02 Attempted Bystanding
by Kyeian
Summary: -COMPLETE- Expectation rules reaction, and you can't help but bend to that will. -This story contains original characters. This is the second story of "Chance or Circumstance". Rated for mature language and some content.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"In order to ensure that you're not thrown in _prison_ for _vigilante_ violence," Une informed the five pilots levelly, "we have temporarily reinstated your military rank."

"We got out of the..."

"We didn't do that because..."

"You can't just slap that..."

"It figures..."

"_Fuck!_"

The pilots had all spoken up at the same time, but Wufei's explosion was louder and more distracting than the rest of the arguments that had been tossed up.

Une blinked at him.

"Yeah," Wufei nodded his head, smirking at the woman. "That's _all_ I have to say about this. _Fuck._"

"I'm not serving," Duo spoke up irritably. "I am _not_ serving."

"You _already_ served!" Une spat at him, pushing up from where she'd been leaning against her desk to move and get directly in his face. "You five stormed _Troy_," she gestured toward the colony the pilots had saved Heero's boyfriend, Matty, from. "You got Helen, you got Troy...and now you're gonna be the damn Trojan horses!"

Their eyes all narrowed at her.

"Yes, I know that doesn't work," she retorted irritably, storming away from them. "But you just...you took _over_ a shuttle," she turned back on them, focusing specifically on Quatre. "You took _over_ a cargo ship that carries no weapons and is piloted by pacifists...you got on it and _made_ them take you!"

"Actually," Heero noted coolly, "we were technically stowaways. We used no force or coercion to reach that goal...we just...got on it."

Une narrowed her eyes at him.

"You're pretty when you're pissed," Trowa informed her.

She turned on him.

He laughed wickedly and fell into a waiting stance, hands behind his back and not meeting eyes.

She huffed, turning back to Heero, then Quatre. "You snuck into the military port," she noted, moving back toward the blond. "You snuck past two majors that were on the deck, _stowed away,_" she noted skeptically toward Heero, "on a cargo ship, then...helped the captain out with the loading."

Quatre grinned at her.

"Matty was the prisoner for the interview," Heero noted. "Quatre wouldn't have let him know he was helping if we didn't want him to know we were coming."

"He could have _blown_ everything," Une snarled at him. "If he'd of jumped at the screen calling for Jason...if he'd..."

"If he were stupid," Quatre cut her off, "we wouldn't have _done_ it."

She receded slightly.

Wufei stepped out of the line they'd been standing in to start pacing.

"Then what?" she demanded, blinking at the man briefly before looking back to the others. "You rode the cargo to the colony? How did you get _in_ there, anyway?"

"A0227 had another space port," Duo noted, resting back from stance himself. The five of them had all fallen into it without realizing it, and Wufei moving from the line had reminded them all that they didn't have to stand like good little soldiers. "A0227 had a port with a faulty seal. At the time, it cost them less money to close it down than to fix it. They put an interior wall up with the ability to be completely sealed from the rest of the colony. Until the seal failed, the old port was still accessible from the main colony."

Une was staring at him.

"We found the emergency entrance," Duo shrugged.

"The cargo ship left," she reminded him. "You were there for more than seven hours."

"Yes," Duo agreed easily. "We got into the colony, settled down in a safe area where I could hack into their security system. We slept."

She looked from one of them to the other in amazement.

"Their security was great around the armory itself," Duo shrugged at her. "Not so great in the main. I'm sure they assumed there was no way to get into the colony without their awareness."

"And could you get a man out that same way?" she demanded.

"Doubtful," Heero returned. "Wufei disconnected the alarms along the doors to the area."

She glowered at the pacing Chinese man.

"We wanted them to think we would go back there," Quatre snapped. "It was an attempted deception."

"Attempted?" she asked blankly.

"We encountered minimal resistance," Trowa agreed. "Very minimal."

"According to our man," Une noted, narrowing her eyes at Duo, "there was a very large _fire._"

"You said that already," Duo waved the words away. "We understand that I almost blew us all sky high."

Quatre snickered, looking down.

"Why is that funny?" Une asked him in an almost cold tone.

"Because he almost blew us sky high," Quatre met her eyes and studied her a long moment. "We're in space."

Heero snickered as well.

Une glared at all of them.

Duo sniggered wickedly, smiling openly at the woman.

"So," she said tightly, turning away from the blond to re-gather her thoughts. "You don't think you could get anyone out there?"

"Well, with a Gundam we could," Heero noted, grinning. "But then again, with a Gundam we could take over any colony."

"And that's just one," Trowa noted, studying his narrows. "Not four."

Une glanced sidelong at Wufei, who hadn't stopped pacing.

"That was subtle," Quatre muttered, sighing and turning to a metal table that had coffee and donuts on it.

"These are handy," Duo informed the woman, moving and kicking the metal leg. "the two-sevians used'em all over."

"Two-sevians?" Heero asked him blankly. "Did you really just say that?"

"Hush," Duo retorted, moving to take the cup Quatre offered him.

"So..." Une moved to sit on her desk again a run her hand down her face. "You've caused me more than enough headache with this shit. Do you realize how fast I had to get this all worked up?" she looked between them all. "I had to get your rank marked back to before you started acting—and that was hard to do because I wasn't sure when you'd _moved._"

"What time did they take Matty's flight?" Duo asked Heero.

"It left at two," Heero noted. "Ours left at three—and it was then that they moved, because by the time I'd come out of suspension they had him."

Une blinked at him.

"What?" Duo asked her, taking a sip of his cup and frowning at her.

"It was you who tried to get the flight held up, wasn't it?" she asked, looking between them all. "You were the ones who tried to cancel it before it even began."

"Yeah, I was _pissed,_" Heero noted, storming over to take the cup Quatre had made for him. "I couldn't believe he was going and I couldn't just _tell_ him how I knew shit was up."

"Him?" she asked. "Matt Williams?"

"You know?" Heero snapped back, pulling the collar of his shirt down to show her the little hickies he had. "The guy I slept with last night?"

Une choked on that, her cheeks flaring briefly as she looked around to Quatre, then the rest.

"She just looked at me, didn't she?" Quatre muttered to Duo. "She think I'm gonna blush because Heero banged his boyfriend all night? _Loudly_," he added sarcastically.

"I _said_ sorry," Heero protested, rounding on him. "I didn't really _mean_ to..."

"Calm down, it was sarcasm," Duo muttered, taking another drink of his cup.

"I slept so good last night," Trowa muttered, tilting his head. "I'm glad you didn't wake me up, Q. I was beyond caring by the time they started."

"Yeah," Quatre agreed dryly. "No problem."

"He _is_ nineteen, isn't he?" Une demanded, looking with wide-eyes at Duo.

"Yes, checked his ID myself," Duo grinned at her, taking the cup Quatre passed him and walking it over to Trowa. "Calm down."

"Besides," Heero muttered, tilting his head. "I think his dad likes me."

Trowa choked on his drink.

"How'd you shake him, anyway?" Wufei asked quietly, moving to take the cup Quatre'd made up for him. "Thanks."

"He was sleeping when I left," Heero noted, shrugging. "I got up quietly and showered—but, uh...he was exhausted," his eyes moved sidelong to Une as he said it. "I coulda woke him back up, but..."

"You're such a pervert," Quatre muttered dryly.

"Am I?" Heero asked, tilting his head as he thought about that. "Why am I a pervert?"

"Because you're spewing perverted nonsense and no one else is going to say a thing about it to you."

Heero grinned, realizing the joke of it.

"So...you went all that way for a piece of ass?" Une snapped, her annoyance rising again.

"Trowa keeps calling him that, too," Heero muttered irritably to Duo. "But he came with us to get him and he seems to like him just fine...why do they all keep calling him that?"

"Because the term boyfriend' doesn't compute for them," Duo reassured him. "With Tro it's because you haven't even known him for two weeks; for Une it's because she's trying to deal with the fact that she didn't realize you were bi and doesn't realize that he's your _boyfriend,_" his eyes flicked to the woman to make sure she got his point.

Une receded again.

There was a polite knock at the door.

"Get it," Une muttered, gesturing at Wufei, who was closest to the thing. "So you weren't doing that to annoy Rabid?" she muttered.

"I didn't realize Rabid was there until he took Matty's phone," Heero noted...and fell silent as the said teen moved into the room.

Wufei smirked over the guy's head at the rest of them, slowly shutting the door—he was also politely thanking whoever'd escorted the younger man.

"Matty," Heero protested.

"You didn't say you were leaving!" Matty argued that instantly, even though there was no real annoyance in Heero's tone. He moved across the room quickly and as he reached Heero, he wrapped his arms around his waist. "I didn't realize you were having a real meeting."

"Yuy?" Une asked dryly.

"I'm gonna be in here a while," Heero muttered, gesturing the woman off.

"I know...I can wait," Matty muttered, biting his lip. "It was freaky to wake up without you there. Look at your face," he added, touching one of the gashes on Heero's lip. "You didn't even put the cream on it, did you?"

"Its fine," Heero muttered, smiling slightly. "The pain isn't distracting."

"But you feel it," the guy protested.

Une cleared her throat.

"What Heero's trying to nicely say," Duo spoke up, studying the kid, "is get out."

Heero flicked him an annoyed look.

"I'll be quiet," Matty returned, focusing on him instantly. "You won't even know I'm here."

"I don't care if you're here," Duo noted, smirking very slightly. "She might, though," he gestured at Une.

Matty turned to look at her, pulling away from Heero as he did so...and freezing like a deer in the headlights as he realized _who_ she was.

"Cute kid," Duo noted to Quatre. "Sometimes I wonder if he's not all that bright."

"You wish," Matty retorted, flicking him a glare, then moving forward slightly. "I'm sorry Ms. Une," he muttered. "I promise I'll be quiet."

"The term private proceedings' is foreign to you, isn't it?" Trowa half-purred in amusement. "Quatre, make him some coffee, why don't you?"

"You like it sweet?" Quatre asked curiously. "I never watched you make yours up."

"Kind of," Matty admitted, moving around Heero to look at him. "Ooh...can I have one of these? I'm hungry..."

"Go for it," Quatre returned easily.

Matty smiled at him and picked out a donut. He took the cup Quatre passed him and turned back to Heero...and stopped.

Une was staring at him.

"So what were you saying about our military rank?" Duo purred, grinning at her as Heero moved to pull the kid to him. "You reinstated it?"

Une looked them all over blankly.

"So we can wear our stars and tell the soldier boys to go pick up our dry cleaning again?"

Trowa sniggered.

"Oh, you didn't!" Matty protested, turning to look back at Duo.

"Yeah, we were being assholes," Duo agreed with a grin. "We'd send the little eighteen year olds in and when it took them more'n ten minutes to get back we'd tear'em a new asshole...kinda funny to see how they reacted."

"You need to _leave_," Une snapped at Matty.

Matty turned to look at her with large hurt eyes. "What?"

She started to open her mouth, then looked around at the others—they were all giving her mildly expectant looks—then focused back on the puppy eyes the nineteen year old could probably pull up on whim.

"Actually, we're done here, aren't we?" Duo asked, sliding off the table. "You put our rank back on, but now that we've finished our mission you'll put it back in the cupboard, right?" he nodded his head, taking a donut as well.

"I'm glad to know it was that easy," Quatre noted to the American, also collecting a donut. "I'd hate to have to re-resign."

"I know, that'd suck," Duo agreed, heading toward the door with the blond. Wufei hesitated to look at the donuts, then shrugged and followed the others from the room. Trowa moved quickly around behind Heero toward the door, pulling at Matty's elbow as he did so. The kid followed him hesitantly, glancing back at Heero.

"So," Heero muttered, grabbing a couple of the donuts and heading for the door. "We're lunching with Sally and Noin today...and then we'll probably hit the memorial."

Une froze, the idea stopping her.

She knew that Wufei had never gone, and she also thought he needed to.

"We probably won't be available tonight," he added, sliding out the door. "Have a good day, huh? Come find us for lunch," he smiled brightly at her, then stepped away.

As soon as the door closed, he darted like a bunny. Shock only held Une back so long before she was in full swing again.

"Ooh, you got me one?" Wufei asked happily, taking one of the donuts. Trowa did, too, though they didn't quit moving fast.

"Can't we slow down?" Matty asked blankly, looking between them all.

"That would be a _very_ bad idea," Duo noted, reaching over and grabbing the guy's arm to pull him around the corner. "We actually need to run...now."

Heero started sniggering...and they all started to run.

"_Yuy!_" they heard Une shouting from the room she'd been in. "Damn it, Yuy! Where _are_ you, Maxwell?"

Duo giggled a little...and led them down another hall.

It was time to get while the gettin' was good.

- -

"All right, we'll be back," Heero muttered, kissing Matty lightly as he started down the hall. They all had their own rooms in the hotel, and since it was at the end of a hall, they also had their own lobby area. The other four former-pilots were standing at the edge of the lobby-area, waiting for him.

Well, Duo and Quatre were, anyway.

"What?" Matty protested, catching his wrist before he could move on. "I'm coming!"

"Not right now," Heero protested, as Trowa herded Wufei, moving in a way that made it so the Chinese man couldn't stop. "I have to go," he started away.

"I'm...I'm ready," Matty protested, catching his wrist so he could keep up. "Dad! Dad!"

Taofa moved into the hall to look at his son curiously.

"We're going to the memorial!" Matty explained.

"Not right now, Matty," Heero protested. "We need some us-time, all right? I'm sorry."

Matty focused on him in confusion.

Taofa, however, actually _knew_ who the pilots were. He understood what it meant in the grander scheme of things, and darted into the hall to grab Matty's wrist. The man and his daughter were sharing a room at the end of the section of the hotel.

"What?" Matty asked blankly.

"You're staying here," Taofa returned seriously in Chinese. "We're not discussing this."

"You can't just tell me..." Matty started.

The man snapped a word Heero didn't understand, and it made the teen stop and stare up at his father.

"I'm sorry," Heero said again, then turned and ran to catch up with the group. He would explain all the lovely details to the teen as soon as he got back...until then...he was just sorry.

- -

Wufei stared blankly out at the blackness of space, wondering if the window he was looking out ever got a view of earth.

"Hey," Quatre muttered quietly, moving up beside him to lean against the window himself. "You okay?"

"When I was little," he noted, "none of us would ever lean against the glass." He smiled slightly. "We'd lean against the walls around it...but we didn't want to be the ones that broke it."

Quatre smiled back at that, looking back to the memorial area. They were inside a little building that was probably meant so mourners could have privacy.

"I guess I should go finish looking around, huh?" Wufei added, not looking away from the stars.

"Probably," Quatre agreed. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'm going to get drunk tonight," Wufei noted, meeting his eyes. "You're not going to stop me, are you?"

"Could I?" Quatre returned quietly, looking toward the extensive darkness. "If I tried, you'd just go drink alone in your room."

Wufei looked out the window as well.

"Come on," Quatre suggested, gesturing as he started for the entrance.

"There's...there's a survivor list, isn't there?" Wufei asked quietly, pulling himself away from the window slowly.

"Yes."

"Good," Wufei sighed. "I haven't seen some of my friends names listed...maybe I didn't kill them after all."

"Please don't say things like that," Quatre returned, stopping in the door itself. "It makes me very sad."

"Sorry," Wufei returned quietly, starting to follow. "I'll try."

"That's all I ask," Quatre returned, then disappeared.

Wufei smiled slightly to himself and rolled his eyes. He knew he'd be crying before they left...but then again, with this group...that wasn't so embarrassing as it would have been. Even if Matty had come it would have been embarrassing.

Considering how Matty had been following Heero around, it had probably been hard for him to lose the kid. ...maybe, when drunk, he'd thank Heero for that.

Might be interesting...even if he didn't remember it by the time he woke up.

- -

E/N: Okay, so as I was writing "Above You" I suggested that this story would be complete before that was posted. I hit a writer's block, though, so it took me some time longer than I'd inteded. I do not own Gundam Wing, standard disclaimers apply.


	2. 01

**One**

"Did you ask them to let you borrow this?" Matty whispered to Heero, looking around the apartment curiously. "Are they moving out?"

The place was very barren.

"Well," Heero muttered, closing the door behind himself. "Me'n the guys have been thinking...none of us _really_ mind sharing that big room, but it's not as convenient for you to come. Getting motels all the time is expensive and you have your little sister around," he shrugged, taking Matty's jacket and hanging it on the coat rack by the door.

"Thanks...so what?"

"So...when Reagan and his wife decided to move out and wanted to sell the place...we looked into our credit rating." He grinned at the guy.

Matty tilted his head, blinking at that.

"Here in the next month or two we're going to put a door between here and there," he indicated a hall that led from the foyer to the five bedrooms. "That way we don't have to go _out_ of the apartment to go between them...and then we'll just own this end of the building." He hung his own coat up and looked the place over. "We haven't really gotten much stuff yet...but we did get some," he led the guy into the living room area, where they'd set up a nice table with candles and things.

Matty stopped to look that all over, then turned to smile at Heero.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Heero muttered, lifting Matty's chin with a finger for a kiss.

"You did this for me, didn't you?" Matty muttered, studying Heero's eyes.

"I made you a nice dinner?" Heero asked lightly, debating if he wanted to take the kiss still being offered. "Yes. I did."

Matty sniggered and leaned up to kiss him again.

The food was going to get cold...Heero took the two steps down into the sunken living room, but Matty didn't move to follow, and him going down the steps made him easier to reach. The younger male leaned forward more until Heero took his weight, wrapping his legs around Heero's waist.

"Mm..." Heero pulled away from the kiss, catching his breath. "We're supposed to _eat_ first..."

"But I'm having fun," Matty protested, nipping at his ear. "When you're down there I can just _reach._"

Heero sniggered, untangling himself.

"Aww," Matty muttered...and bit his throat before he could move away.

Heero hissed slightly, catching his waist, then jerked away quickly. "Stop already..."

Matty giggled, licking his lips. "I still think it's funny that you like to be bitten."

"Like you don't," Heero retorted, moving back out of reach. "Come on...I made us food."

"You cooked?" Matty demanded, actually thinking about that.

"I did," Heero agreed, smiling more and leading the nineteen year old to the little table. He held the chair so the guy could sit and kissed him briefly again before moving out of reach. When they were alone, Matty was more than willing to make the first, and in fact, all the moves. Heero had to keep focused on what he had to do or they'd end up screwing all night.

He really _liked_ how brazen Matty actually _was_. Heero'd gathered that as a one-night stand, Matty was going for the gold...and now that Heero'd proven himself, he was trusted.

There was the option that it was just how the guy was, but if Heero even seemed to be about to mention it to his friends, the teen got embarrassed and shy.

Heero wasn't really that worried about it, he just knew that he had to keep to his point and they'd work around to it. He carried the food back to the table and served the other before sitting down and studying Matty with interest.

"Why are you doing all this?" Matty asked, smiling slightly at him.

"I thought it would be nice," Heero returned, hitting the power button on the remote for the stereo. He'd had the volume adjusted already, and had made the mix of music himself.

Matty smiled at that. "This is just all romantic and sweet."

"Yeah, it is," Heero agreed, leaning against the table with his elbow and his hand on the side of his head. "You don't like it?"

"I didn't say that," Matty muttered, looking around the dimly lit room. "We usually just..."

"I really like the sex," Heero noted. "I really like how _much_ sex...but that's not all you are and you know it." They'd had this conversation before. It had taken Heero a long time to even get the guy to start _talking_ about his friends or family. He was always interested in Heero's friends and job and such things, but he hadn't really volunteered the information.

"Can't we have the sex, then the sweet?" Matty protested, grinning slightly.

"Yeah...the thought crossed my mind...but look, food," he indicated the plates.

Matty flashed him a true smile, then picked up his fork.

- -

"Shh," Wufei muttered, gesturing at Quatre. "I can't tell if they managed to eat or not..."

"Wufei!" Quatre protested, darting across the room to pull the Chinese man off his bed. They'd done the measurements and found that Quatre's bed lined up with the end of the hall on the far side of the wall.

Wufei started laughing wickedly, stretching out on the dark brown carpet. "I just heard music, don't be such a prude."

"You're so perverted," Quatre retorted, dropping to sit. "What do you think Heero'd say if he found out you were trying to eavesdrop on them?"

"I think he'd ask me why I was only _trying,_" Wufei retorted. "And I was actually doing a pretty good job of it before you came in and threw me."

Quatre grinned at him, then glowered again.

Wufei sniggered, looking toward the closet a moment before sitting up again to grin. "I wasn't really listening."

Quatre tilted his head.

"Your alarm was going off," Wufei indicated the thing. "Then you came in."

The blond gave him a severely level look.

Wufei grinned, pushing up to his feet. "You really think Matty'll like that we got rooms?"

"I think he'll end up moving in now," Quatre returned, pushing himself up from the bed and heading toward the entrance to the main room. "He sleeps here most of the time anyway. We can figure a nice round amount for him to pay toward mortgage'n bills so he doesn't think we're just letting him live here...and then Duo and Heero can keep doing what they're doing."

"Duo?" Wufei echoed blankly.

"I'm cooking," Quatre informed Wufei. "I figured you could use a night off...and yeah. Hadn't you realized? Duo buys him anything he even looks interested in. Heero doesn't care, though I think Matt might get up in arms about it soon."

"I'd imagine," Wufei noted, blinking a few times. "I hadn't realized that...what's Duo's game?"

"I honestly don't think he has one," Quatre returned, moving around into the kitchen. "I honestly think it's just his form of affection. He buys us crap, if you think about it. He doesn't usually get the chance to because we buy what we want ourselves, but if he sees something, he grabs it. Matt makes a lot less money than we do."

"But we come with skills that would make our sums a bit excessive," Wufei noted, smirking. "Saviors of the planet and colonies, war heroes, hacking skills of the gods..."

Quatre gave him an amused look as he pulled some steaks out of the fridge.

"We could infiltrate any enemy," Wufei noted happily, slinking down to barely look over the top of the counter at Quatre, "in the dead of night...sneak into Bernard Global..."

Quatre guffawed happily at that. Bernard Global was the only competition on earth that Winner Incorporated had to worry about.

"We could hack in," Wufei noted, bouncing up to sit on the end stool, "and put all their prices at sudden-death clearance and wipe them out!"

That made the blond laugh even more.

Wufei shifted himself to the next stool in. "You want me to? I haven't hacked in forever, I'm getting rusty...they might realize it'd been a hacker."

"Uh, no," Quatre denied happily. "I think its okay."

Wufei grinned at that, then looked across the apartment as his heart ached again; his distractions were working less and less now.

They'd gone to the memorial for A0206 after rescuing Matt from the revolutionists. After six years of avoidance, they'd finally been in position to go to the memorial. Wufei shook his head at that, running his hands over his eyes.

"Come on, don't think about it," Quatre suggested quietly. "You went, you saw...we came home."

"I know," Wufei muttered, covering his eyes. "I know...I'm trying..."

"It might help you to call them," Quatre suggested quietly.

The trip had been emotionally tearing for Wufei. Even though the colonists had all agreed to the sacrifice, he still saw it as his own fault. Actually, there had been many people from the colony that hadn't been _on_ the colony when it exploded...who'd committed suicide. There had been a list of those...and then the list of survivors.

There had been a fair few of Wufei's friends on that list, other boys he'd gone to school with. They'd gone to another colony to finish their education as the wars started, so they'd lost their family and friends...and while a few of _them_ had committed suicide...many of them had lived, were still living.

There was some reassurance in the knowledge that the people in charge of the memorial didn't blame Wufei. The history of the colony, the attempts of the Alliance to kill it and Wufei's wife's death had been noted. That information had gone into Wufei going to earth, and the subsequent decision of the colony to the man to agree that if they were ever in a position that compromised the success...

Something inside of Wufei had been broken when that colony self-destructed. He'd carried around that open wound, and it was only when he went to the memorial and saw the truth laid out with honor that he was willing to admit it to himself.

He still saw it as his fault, though.

He'd apologized, or tried to, to Matt's father and uncle. He'd been drinking at the time and breaking down. The men had both promptly made it very clear that they in no way held him responsible for the tragedy. It hadn't been him, it had been Wufei's enemies, all of their enemies. The two men had quietly excused themselves when Duo'd moved in to comfort the Chinese man while Matty watched Wufei in something like amazement from Heero's arms.

Unfortunately, the whole ordeal had broken down Wufei's walls.

His friends knew very well that the reason that Wufei would pick and tease was to keep himself from thinking too much. It had been painfully obvious when he'd started, and then it had just worked into his personality as they got older.

They were all very aware that he hadn't been able to meditate since their return, and even his forms were getting choppy enough that Heero would stop him and encourage him to mirror.

"I really need to go talk to Mike, don't I?" Wufei muttered, staring at the countertop. Mike was his psychiatrist.

"If you think you need to, then yes," Quatre agreed. "I think its grief and you'll be okay after a while."

Wufei looked up to him, blinking.

Quatre smiled very slightly, then went back to poking the steaks he'd pulled out with the forks he'd pulled out. He knew Wufei would go to the psychologist in the end, but Wufei had been asking if Quatre thought he was strong enough on his own to deal with the issues. They both knew it, and Wufei may not have realized that Quatre would read it the way he had, but it was just one of the little things they'd do for each other. It was like Wufei noting with aplomb something dirty so Quatre could deal with his embarrassment quickly without being ashamed.

It was how they worked, tit for tat, this for that, a little for a lot.

Wufei sighed slightly and stood up. "I'm gonna go try to meditate again before the guys get back."

"All right," Quatre returned, watching him start away. "Just stop trying to hear if Heero and Matty are fucking."

Wufei turned a very bright and wicked smile onto Quatre, then disappeared into the room part of the apartment.

- -

"So you're coming to visit us?" Duo demanded happily as he bounced through the entrance of their apartment with a wave to the doorman. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Noin agreed. "Milliardo decided to fall back on his annoying tendency of disappearing on me without forewarning me, so I'm pissed at him. I'm not taking the asshole back this time..."

"You always say that," Duo retorted as he started up the stairs. He didn't really like the elevator. "You always do in the end, so don't go chasing the bravado or you'll be all embarrassed to talk to me again."

Noin laughed at that. "Okay, fine, I will take him back, but I'm not going to wait around like some little lost puppy. I wanna get laid."

Duo smirked. "You're comin' to the right place for that."

She guffawed happily at him. "Why the hell do you think I chose you guys instead of running off with Sally?"

Duo loosened his collar with a smirk. "Why, Lucretzia, I never knew..."

She laughed wickedly at that.

"Okay...okay," Duo pulled his mind forcefully from the gutter. "When does your flight come in?"

"Three tomorrow," she returned. "Don't worry, you'll know all about it because I'm going to be texting you the entire flight. You're taking me out for Valentine's, you know."

"Today is Valentine's," Duo protested.

"You're...taking me out for Valentine's," she repeated.

He snorted. "I don't have a problem with that as long as you realize you'll be a day late. Shit, time doesn't run differently in the colonies, Lu. You _know_ that, right?"

"Oh haha," she retorted. "I just had a really bad day and you're reminding me that it's not over yet...hope you feel good about yourself."

"So what?" Duo asked blankly. "When did Princey leave?"

She went quiet in a way that suggested to Duo she was fighting tears. "Last night."

"And just...you're sure he wasn't grabbed?" Duo muttered. "With all the turmoil and the 27 shit...I mean, he _is_ a prince."

"I thought of that," she returned. "I synched our phones up and it had like...three flights. He didn't say _anything_ to me..."

"Noin, stay with me," Duo suggested quickly as he moved up the final set of stairs to the top floor. "Are you _sure_ he has his phone?"

"Yes," she muttered, sniffling somewhat. "It's on him...and the health stats all read normal."

"If someone took his phone...can you find out where he _is?_"

"He hasn't been kidnapped, Duo," she returned, still sounding like she'd start crying.

"Even so," Duo returned, "with all the crap going on up there...I'll check out his status."

"Fine, whatever," she muttered. He figured she was wiping at her eyes. "I'm still coming tomorrow."

"That's fine," Duo reassured her. "We're even buying the apartment next to ours," he added as he opened the door to their place. "You'll, like, have a room and stuff."

She laughed a little at that.

"And as for getting laid, I know four guys who're free right on arrival."

She started giggling.

"Huh?" Quatre asked from where he was standing at the stove.

"Noin is coming tomorrow and wants to get laid," Duo explained. "I guess Princey left again without any notice."

"You make sure he wasn't kidnapped?" Quatre demanded, pulling the fridge open.

"On my way to do it, boss-man," Duo returned, heading for the room.

"Duo," Quatre muttered.

Duo turned to look at him.

"The carpet, come on," Quatre gestured at his boots.

"What's he on about?" Noin asked blankly.

"We got carpet installed while we were gone," Duo explained, heading back to the shoe-area. "At least in the room...and I'm covered in sawdust and shit...shit," he looked himself over.

"So...you go shower," she suggested, "and I'll complain to Quatre a while...or Wufei. Wufei's there, isn't he?"

"Is Fei here?" Duo asked blankly, listening intently.

"He's meditating," Quatre returned, hoping that Duo's entrance hadn't interrupted that.

"Oh, shit," Duo muttered, then focused on his phone. "Okay, so I'm gonna hop in the shower...and Quatre will call you in a minute or two, right, Quatre?"

"Immediately, my love!" Quatre said loudly enough to be picked up.

Noin started giggling.

Duo winked at him. "So right...shower. Later," he made a kissy noise into his phone as the woman laughed more, then hung up. "She's very not-happy about Princey disappearing on her," he noted. "I'll run the scans and shit after my shower to make sure he wasn't grabbed—she's pretty sure he hasn't been, but after our stunt with the phone, if the 27-idiots grabbed him they'd figure out how to work it. If it turns out he is just a bastard, we can show the lady a good time."

Quatre nodded, pulling his phone out.

Duo toed his shoes off and shot them with the spray to neutralize odor, then headed toward the bathroom.

He wasn't intending to take long—he was nervous enough without adding in the damsel distressed by the missing prince.

Bah...at least the day was almost over, right? Right.

- -

"So you want me to what?" Trowa muttered as he moved toward his car.

"I want you to come have coffee with me," the guy muttered, sliding in front of him so he couldn't unlock the door. "Come on, Rigel, you never give me the time of day. What's one cup of coffee in the grand scheme of things?"

"Okay," Trowa muttered, shifting back where he stood and considering his options. "You're aware that I'm straight, right?"

Timothy's expression turned confused.

"I can't tell if you're hitting on me or trying to be my friend," Trowa noted, resting his weight against his right arm, and that against the car. He had the keys in his hand as he leaned forward so he was very close to Timothy's face. "Are you hitting on me?"

"No!" Timothy protested, sliding away from him as his cheeks flared.

Trowa sniggered, sliding the key into the lock. The battery in his fob had died somewhere between saving Matty and getting to work after their "vacation".

Timothy hesitated. "Un...unless...but...no," he shook his head. "I just...you don't ever do anything with anyone in the office," he gestured back at the building they worked in.

Trowa sighed, tossing his bag and jacket across the car into the passenger seat. "I'm kind of busy at home," he noted. "Right now's not a great time for me to be running around. Our vacation brought some shit up, and my friends and I are trying to hold the group together."

That was a roundabout way of saying they were all trying to help Wufei deal with his issues, but Timothy didn't need to know that.

"If I said I was hitting on you," Timothy demanded, straightening some, "would you come to coffee with me then?"

"You really want me to go have coffee with you, don't you?" Trowa demanded in return, considering the man a long moment. "So...you setting me up?"

"What?" Timothy asked blankly.

"You know the drill," Trowa returned, swinging one leg into the car so he could lean his back against it. "Big wolves hop out of the woods and steal something like a daughter and tie her up and put her in their goody basket, tell you if you don't want'em to take her to the big farm in the sky, then you do what they want. You get it?"

Timothy gave him a look that stated very clearly he thought Trowa was nuts.

Trowa grinned at that and shook his head. "Too bad, I'd have gone with you if you said that," he slid down into his seat. "Well, I need to get going."

"You're a fucking asshole," Timothy snapped at him. "Just a paranoid bastard with far too much time alone."

"I'm never alone, I'd _love_ to be alone," Trowa retorted. "I'm not, though. I get the ride to and from work, and sometimes the house, rarely...or if I go run shopping."

"With your imaginary roommates?" Timothy retorted.

Trowa met his eyes in disbelief a long moment, then smirked at him. "You serious?"

"When have they ever come here?" Timothy returned. "When do they text you? When do you talk to anyone at all? It's okay," he added. "I can see how...but..."

"You think I have imaginary friends?" Trowa demanded, resting back in his seat. That was funny—that made Timothy interesting. He considered the man's face a long moment, then gestured at him. "Get in."

"Huh?" Timothy asked blankly.

"Get in," Trowa repeated, pulling his other leg in and tossing his bag and jacket to the back seat. He pulled his door closed as Timothy hesitantly moved around the car to the passenger side.

Oh, the lock.

Trowa unlocked the car, then pulled his seat-belt down as his co-worker climbed into the car with him.

"We can go hang out at my place for your blasted coffee," Trowa noted, starting the engine.

"Is this a _manual?_" Timothy demanded, staring at the gearshift.

"Yes," Trowa returned, hitting reverse.

"They still _make_ these?" Timothy demanded, looking around to his feet. He watched him switch gears as they pulled out of the parking lot, then looked around the car again.

"It wasn't cheap," Trowa noted, "but I prefer this to a damn automatic. Make me think of the mobile dolls," he shook his head.

"You were like..._twelve_ in the wars," the guy retorted.

"I was fifteen when they started and sixteen when they stopped," Trowa retorted. He glanced sidelong at the man. "Unlike you, I _knew_ what was going on."

The man guffawed at that. "Politics and bloody pissing contests." He shook his head as he looked out the windows. "A bunch of stupid people with big weapons and no regard for human life."

"The Gundams?" Trowa asked, speeding up to get through a yellow light.

"Bunch of teenagers on steroids," the man retorted. "Well-trained dogs."

"Man," Trowa muttered, not quite managing to find offense in his words. "You're a bundle of fucking joy. Accuse me of having imaginary friends, then without even bothering to ask what side I was on, you just spout hollow slogans that were probably drilled into your head by parents too scared to try to _take_ sides."

The man turned in his seat to stare at Trowa's face.

"Did you know that I don't know who my parents are?" Trowa asked curiously.

"Orphan?" the man asked, blinking. "That explains it..."

"My imaginary friends?" Trowa asked, grinning wickedly at that notion. After he told them, it'd be something that could come up all the time.

"No, your attitude," the man retorted.

"_My_ attitude?" Trowa asked sweetly. "You were begging me to go out with you, and now that I'm taking you to my place, you're pissy? Shit, you want a proper courtship you gotta say no sometimes."

Timothy choked on that, though it was the sort of choking that suggested an unexpected laugh.

Trowa flashed him a grin.

"The...the light!" Timothy squawked gesturing wildly at the windshield.

Trowa knew he was basically running the damn thing and didn't particularly care. He had actually _run_ the things before, and never seemed to get a ticket for it. He wasn't sure if the cops recognized him, or if they didn't care...it was just how it worked. He wasn't stupid, he wasn't going to go through a light that was dangerous.

"You're insane!" Timothy snapped, glaring up at his face.

"Why else would I have imaginary friends?" Trowa smirked at him, then patted his knee. "Calm down, I'm not stupid. It was just a couple lights, not worth working yourself up over."

"What if a car had been coming!?" the man demanded.

"I'd have stopped," Trowa returned, looking to him seriously. "That's what you're really _supposed_ to do at red lights."

The guy looked like he was seriously doubting his idea of leaving with Trowa.

Trowa couldn't really blame him. If he really thought Trowa had imaginary friends, then getting into the car alone with him was probably stupid. He also hadn't told anyone what he was doing.

Trowa was vaguely tempted leave town and play out the psycho-role...but his pants weren't comfortable and he really wanted his runners on. Playing with a co-worker would have its definite amusements, but in the long-run it would only end up putting him in jail or something stupid like that.

"Look," Trowa added, slowing to a stop at another light as a truck moved down the road at them. "See? Stopped," he gestured out the windows.

The guy settled back. "Running red lights is a good way to get a ticket."

"Yeah, I suppose," Trowa agreed, looking around. He was just going to go, but the light turned green in time to keep him from doing the illegal thing he was hoping for. "How about you? You got any imaginary friends?"

"I did as a kid," the guy returned, sounding almost tired. "Listen...it's the sort of thing that can happen when you're alone too much..."

"You're so helpful," Trowa noted in amusement as he pulled onto the road leading to their complex. "You know I live here, huh?" he pointed at the apartment building, looking up the height of it to their apartment. The lights were on, and everyone else should already be home. "Shit," he added, grinning slightly, "its Valentine's Day...and I don't have you any chocolate."

The guy frowned at him. "You have to have a pass to park here," he muttered.

"Yeah," Trowa agreed, pulling the thing down from his visor and flicking it across the scanner. The gate instantly opened, just like it was supposed to do when residents scanned their cards.

"You really live here?" the guy asked, sounding slightly bemused.

"Yeah," Trowa agreed, pulling into the pent-lot.

"You can park in here?" the man asked blankly.

"I park here every night," Trowa agreed.

He hadn't realized the man hadn't known anything about him. He thought he'd talked to most of them enough that they realized he wasn't poor.

Maybe they all thought he was lying.

That was kind of depressing.

"This is our apartment," he noted, gesturing up the wall and their line of cars. All the cars were present, even Matty's little beater piece of junk.

"Is that supposed to be there?" Timothy asked blankly as they started for the breezeway.

"That's my friend's boyfriend's car," Trowa explained, patting the thing. "Don't sneeze or it might collapse."

The guy grinned at that.

"You don't have anyone, huh?" Trowa asked. "I mean in the...significant other...term, not friends."

"I've been single far too long," the man returned, rolling his eyes. "For some reason the only women who'll give me the time of day are harpies."

"But sexy?" Trowa asked, hoping for the best there.

The guy snorted and shrugged. "I suppose they could be."

Trowa laughed at that. "I almost had a relationship last summer, but it bottomed out. All I can manage is to get laid," he shook his head in mock-sadness. "Horrible plight."

The man snorted, though it was amused.

"Hey, Sean," he greeted the doorman as he moved quickly forward and opened the door for them. "Not working too late, are you?"

"I get off here in about five seconds," the man returned, grinning happily at him. "After I let this door close on some pain in the ass clients."

Trowa laughed at that and flipped him off, then winked. "Happy Valentine's Day, don't forget to get your girl a rose or something," he flicked a bill back at the man.

"On you, of course," the guy noted in amusement.

Trowa grinned at that and slid into the waiting elevator.

"You tipped him?" Timothy asked blankly.

"It's Valentine's Day and he has a girlfriend, he's getting off work, and...I like him," Trowa shrugged, passing his pass-card under the reader.

Timothy stared at that, then looked at the buttons as the machine started moving.

"What?"

"Is that..._do_ you live in the penthouses?"

"There are four up there," Trowa shrugged. "We own the one we live in, and we're buying the one next to it."

The man stared at his face in disbelief.

"Oh, shit," he added, pulling his phone out and pulling up a multi-text. He almost forgot to take Heero and Matty off the list, he doubted they'd care if he brought someone home. Heero had the second apartment to himself for the night.

_Hey, I'm here and bringing a friend up. No nudity required, he's a male._'

"What?" Timothy asked, blinking at him.

"I was telling everyone you're coming up," he explained.

The guy gave him a wary look.

"What?" Trowa demanded. "Just because I keep my work life and my home life separate and am an asshole doesn't mean I make people up in my head.

_Eh?_' Duo asked. _You brought a guy home? But only me'n Heero do that._'

Trowa sniggered.

_Not some vegetarian...or vegan, is he?_' Quatre demanded.

_If I like him, can I keep him?_' Wufei asked happily.

Trowa grinned more.

"What?"

"Uh...my friends are special," Trowa returned. "Here we go." The doors slid open and they moved out of it into the hall.

Trowa had never really thought about how secular the area of the building was until his phone popped up a warning that Heero's sensors had caught an unfamiliar. They hadn't been able to put the sensors out before, since the neighbors came and went as they pleased, but now that the end of the building was theirs, it was something else entirely.

"That's the new place," Trowa noted, gesturing to the second door. "My friend and his boyfriend are using it tonight, though."

"His boyfriend?" Timothy asked blankly.

"Yeah, he's bi," Trowa shrugged and pushed the apartment door open.

"Oh...that's why you...asked..." his voice was very weak as he took in the main living area.

"Hey, guys," Trowa muttered to Quatre, who was sitting on their couch. It was almost like Trowa had put new eyes on and was looking at the place. The carpet under the living room area was a throw that was probably worth the same as a trip to Japan. The couch itself was probably taken from one of the Winner mansions, considering how overstuffed it was.

"Hey," Duo muttered, popping over the railing to the gym. "Who's your friend?"

Timothy looked up at him, then followed the railing over to the stairs that went up the far wall.

"That's the gym," Trowa explained. "You're not all sweaty are you?" he added.

"You like me sweaty," Duo retorted, disappearing again.

"You _wish,_" Trowa retorted, rolling his eyes to Timothy. "Guys, this is my co-worker, Timothy," he draped a companionable arm around the guy. "He's been begging me since we got back to go with him to coffee—so I just had him come here. This is Jason, he's Warrick," he gestured upstairs. "Where's Ian?"

"I'm back here," Wufei called from the laundry room. "I need like, a pair of pants more, go change."

Timothy turned to blink at him.

"Fine," Trowa muttered, sliding his shoes off at the door. "Feel free to have a seat," Trowa added, gesturing to the couch. "I'll only be a minute," he grinned and started for the room.

"You live here?" Timothy hissed, chasing after him.

"Yeah," Trowa returned in amusement as the guy looked the huge screen over that divided the bedroom from the main room.

Quatre cast a smirk at Wufei, who grinned back.

"Ooh, shoes," Trowa muttered, indicating the man's feet. "The carpet is new."

"Oh, uh..." Timothy slid them off and kicked them to the side.

Trowa found that rather amusing as he headed into the room. "That's my bed," he added, indicating the thing. "And this is my closet," he moved to the end section. Heero had built the closet before they'd all moved down from space, and aside from being taller than head height with matting on the top for meditation, it had five separate sections inside. They each had their own walk in closet.

"Whoa," the guy muttered blankly, looking up and down the thing, then around at the beds.

"We're all used to sleeping in barracks," Trowa noted, dropping his shirt outside the door and starting on his slacks. "So this sleeping arrangement doesn't give us an issue—the only problem is that Max got a boyfriend who he seems to have sex with daily," he shook his head as he pulled out a pair of jeans. "I don't actually pry, though. I get along with the kid well enough, but he's been sleeping in here," he gestured at Heero's bed. "They whisper at each other enough that we all decided the second apartment was a good investment."

Timothy was blinking around in confusion.

"So yeah," Trowa noted, pulling the jeans on and pulling his under-shirt off. "That's me," he noted.

Timothy had turned back to him...and was staring at his abs.

"What?" Trowa asked, raising an eyebrow. "Please, lord in heaven...tell me you're _not_ gay."

Quatre started cracking up from the living room.

"You're so smooth," Duo noted from where he'd been working out on the upper floor. "Did we ever tell you that?"

"You changed, idiot?" Wufei demanded, moving into the room.

"Oh, shut-up," Trowa retorted, kicking his slacks at Wufei. The Chinese man caught them effortlessly, then turned and slid out the door again.

"Are those _real?_" Timothy demanded...and pressed his hand against Trowa's abdomen.

"Hey," Trowa muttered, knocking his it away. "That's not something I let people do."

"What?" Quatre asked.

"Did he just grope you?" Duo demanded from above.

Timothy's cheeks flared as he looked around toward the gym, then realized that it was completely open.

"He freaked out about my abs," Trowa noted, rolling his eyes as he turned get another shirt out. "Leave him alone, guys, he thought you were all imaginary."

Duo guffawed.

"You just _had_ to tell them that, didn't you?" Timothy hissed at him.

"You just totally felt me up," Trowa returned, toeing off his socks and reaching into the closet for another pair. "Hey, Jase? Food done?"

"How did you know he was cooking?" Wufei demanded.

"He texted me at lunch," Trowa returned. "Said he was cooking and was there anything I didn't want."

"I texted everyone, even Max," Quatre noted in amusement. "He informed me that he didn't give a damn what we all ate, he was cooking for him and Matt."

"You called him Matt again," Wufei muttered.

"That'd be his name, Ian," Quatre returned in mock explanation. "See, his first name is Mattox."

"Wow! You're smart!" Trowa cried, hopping out of the bedroom to clap exuberantly.

"Fuck you," Quatre returned with a grin. "Food's in the microwave and on the stove. I'm glad you're running late. I don't want to feed you anymore."

Trowa laughed happily at that and turned toward the kitchen. "So, Tim...you care if I call you Tim?" he waited for the head-shake of negation. "Good...we got some real beer, some weird-ass imported beer...I think we have some vodka left—I'll ask Ian...and probably some rum about. You want some liquor?"

"How old even is he?" Quatre retorted.

"ID," Trowa noted, extending a hand.

"I'm twenty-_five_," Timothy retorted, offended by that. "How long did you intend to be here?"

"I dunno, an hour or two at least—I guess if you don't want to hang out I can just drive you back to your car now."

"Eh?" Wufei asked, moving from the laundry room and giving him an interested look. "There's a new bottle of vodka up there," he added, moving around to sit at the breakfast bar. "Get it out for me?"

Trowa wanted to deny that. They'd all decided that Wufei wasn't going to get his own drinks for a month or two. He hadn't initially had an issue with it, but a few days before he'd broken the edict and drank until he passed out while they were all sleeping.

Having a guest in the house suggested it wasn't time for that argument.

He pulled three glasses down and poured a shot in each, glancing at Timothy. "I really need to see your ID before I give you this."

"You're serious?" the man demanded, though his hand had strayed toward his back pocket.

"The cola, huh?" Wufei muttered, gesturing at the fridge with his head.

Trowa turned and pulled that out, filling two of the glasses, then passed Wufei one and sipped out of the second.

Timothy gave him an annoyed look and pulled out his wallet, looking at it to find the date of birth and raising it to show Trowa.

"All right...you want the cola...or...we got some almost-clear crap in there..."

"It's ginger ale," Quatre retorted from the living room. "And make me one if you've got the alcohol out."

"All right," Trowa returned pulling that out.

"I'll take some of that," Timothy muttered.

"I'm pourin', War," Trowa called. "You want some?"

"Why don't we talk about wanting some in the bathroom?" Duo returned.

"You're a sick old man, and I'm not interested," Trowa retorted.

"Dang...I'll take the alcohol, then...your friend never did answer you, you know."

Trowa snickered, grinning at Timothy as he passed him a drink.

"Is it any of your business?" Timothy demanded, glancing toward the ceiling.

"I'd like it to be," Duo purred in amusement. "Why don't you come admire the equipment?"

"Yours or the work-out shit?" Timothy retorted.

"Both, if you'd like," Duo sounded highly amused.

Trowa rolled his eyes, then turned to pull a couple plates down.

He didn't give a damn if the man were interested in Duo's offers, not as long as he remained un-groped...well, by a man anyway. Any chick could and that'd be fine.

Trowa grinned slightly, and went about gathering up the food.


	3. 02

**Two**

"Holy shit..."

Trowa woke up slowly, blinking at the floor—and Timothy, who was still fully clothed in his slacks from the day before. Someone had gotten him a pillow and blanket, but he was laying on the floor by Trowa's bed.

Wow...they had drank a lot, hadn't they?

Trowa blinked a few more times as his stomach squirmed uncomfortably.

"This is new carpet?" Timothy asked tiredly.

"Yeah," Trowa returned, dropping back as his entire sense of equilibrium argued with itself.

"I shouldn't puke on it then, huh?" Timothy noted.

"No, that'd piss people off," Trowa agreed.

"Mm..." the man groaned, then pushed himself up from the floor...to stagger out of the room area.

"You hung, too?" Duo muttered.

"Yes," Trowa returned. "I don't remember...what the hell happened?"

"After you ate you had another drink because I said I'd take him to his car...but he wanted another drink...after a while I realized he wasn't going home and got into the drinks myself."

"Oh..." Trowa listened a moment. "Man...what time did we pass out?"

"He passed out at about one," Duo muttered. "You got him a blanket and pillow and just kinda laid down on your bed. I don't think you were out until two...I went to bed at two-thirty. Quatre?"

"Shut up," Quatre returned.

Trowa raised his head to look down the line of beds at the other. Quatre was curled up in the middle of his mattress.

"He was mixing," Duo noted. "Who the hell _is_ that?"

Trowa laughed weakly, then groaned as it upset his stomach. "Shit...Timothy. Co-worker. He's in billing. Most of my shit gets passed to him."

"So why did you bring him home?"

"He thought I didn't have any friends," Trowa noted in amusement, considering the far distant ceiling. "He was trying to get me to go have coffee with him because he thought I was alone all the time."

"You're...never...alone," Duo noted.

"Yeah, you and me know that, he thought I made you all up. Must've thought I was pretty pathetic, huh? I told'em all about living here and when we came in he was noting that we had to have a pass to park in the lot and trying to suggest I not park in the pent-lot."

Duo guffawed.

"Yeah...was all confused that I tipped Sean, too...I wish you coulda seen his face when he realized I had a pent-card."

Duo sniggered.

The toilet flushed and they fell silent as the bathroom door opened, listening.

"If you want water," Duo noted, "there are cups in the cupboard beside the fridge...our tap tastes fine, and the fridge is just as good."

"Right," the guy muttered.

Trowa grinned slightly, then pushed himself over so he started to fall out of bed. "You think Max'n Matt had a good night?"

"When _don't_ they?" Quatre demanded sourly. "Damn...what time is it? Lu is coming..."

"Huh?" Trowa asked, righting himself slowly as his equilibrium swam.

"Lucretzia is coming," Duo noted. "Her flight lands at three."

"Good morning!" Heero called as the front door opened. "Good morn...hello, who are you?"

Trowa laughed slightly.

"He's cute," Matty whispered loudly to Heero.

"Yeah," Heero noted. "You fuck War?"

Timothy spluttered.

Duo started laughing.

"He's with _me_," Trowa retorted...and realized what he said.

"Damn...you coulda got a room, Rige," Heero noted happily, moving across the apartment. "Head count!"

"Ian's actually thinking about living," Duo noted. "Jase's still torn...I just haven't gotten up yet, and Rige isn't sure if balance really _is_ an inborn trait."

Trowa grinned at him.

"Morning!" Matty muttered, bouncing brightly into the bedroom to look them all over with shining eyes. "Were you all so disappointed that you didn't have me all night that you drank yourselves into oblivion?"

"Yeah, that's what we did," Duo retorted dryly.

Matty started laughing, bouncing around to look up at Trowa's face curiously.

"What's this?" Heero asked, kicking Timothy's pillow so it hit Trowa's legs.

"He passed out," Trowa returned, blinking blearily at the other. "You're disgusting, do you know that?"

"Am I?" Heero asked, tilting his head slightly.

"I hate you all," Wufei noted, rolling over and groaning.

"You're in such a good mood," Trowa agreed, ignoring Wufei.

Timothy moved back into the room with two cups, passing one to Trowa.

"Thanks," Trowa muttered, dropping back to sit down. Timothy moved over and dropped down next to him, setting his cup on Quatre's nightstand. He sat there a moment, then collapsed backwards.

"What did you guys do?" Heero asked blankly, looking around at them all in confusion.

"We drank," Wufei returned dryly. "It's this thing you do a lot of on holidays you don't like."

"As if any of us gave a shit it was Valentine's," Timothy retorted.

Heero grinned at that, then looked back around to Wufei.

"I'm going to die," Quatre informed them. "Do me a favor and hide my body."

Heero laughed, moving down the row of beds to sit on his own. "Okay, so now that we're all aware of our situations...what are we going to do about it?"

Matty bounced across the room to drop in Heero's lap, kissing him.

"Right now?" Heero asked, pushing him off slightly. "Really not a good time."

Matty laughed at that and crawled around behind him to the bed and sighed contentedly as he lay down.

"So a couple more hours sleep are in order," Duo muttered. "We can actually get up at eleven."

"What _time_ is it?" Timothy demanded.

"Doesn't matter," Duo reassured him. "The only one in a state of sobriety is Max...which means even if he took you to your car, you couldn't drive it. Just fall back asleep."

"Here," Wufei muttered, pulling something out of his nightstand. "We all need some of these..." and he hucked the thing so it hit the bookcase behind Trowa's bed.

They all flinched at the noise of the thing and looked around to Wufei irritably.

He laughed a little. "Sorry..."

"How many?" Trowa muttered, grabbing the bottle of antacids and opening it.

"Two or three," Wufei returned. "And you'll probably want to wash it down with the water...if you could pass that down, too."

"Right," Trowa agreed, pouring a couple of the things into Timothy's hand and then his own. He tossed the bottle at Quatre, who'd shifted around, then chewed the chalky tablets up himself.

When they were in his mouth, his urge to throw-up was fairly strong, but he washed them back with the water like the other male had suggested...and after a minute, his stomach thought about settling.

"Here," Timothy muttered, taking that cup and passing it to Quatre, who'd chucked the bottle to Heero so he could chuck it back to Wufei. "Did I puke last night?"

"No, why?" Duo muttered, catching the bottle as Wufei passed it to him.

"Because I feel like I really have..."

"Heh," Duo flashed him a grin. "None of us have yet...though I think it was a near miss with you. You probably would have if you stayed up any longer...thanks," he added to Heero. The guy had taken him the cup of water from Wufei.

"There's a cheery thought," Timothy noted, dropping back onto the mattress.

Trowa was sort of glad he had a king-size bed. He didn't really have the heart to chase the guy back onto the floor, and more sleep was definitely in order.

"So we get up by noon," Duo muttered, taking a drink, "shower our asses in mass...then get ready for Lu."

"What?" Heero asked, stopping. He had been about to lay down again.

"Lu is coming at three," Duo explained again.

"Why?"

Quatre started sniggering.

"Because she's going to fuck me," Duo retorted.

"Okay, we _all_ know that's a lie," Heero retorted, laying down as Matty shifted the bedding around them. "So why really?"

"Princey took off again," Duo returned quietly. "She's upset about it and wants to get away."

"Oh, Christ," Heero muttered with a groan. "Hasn't that asshole figured out yet that he can't live without her?"

"Evidently not," Duo returned dourly. "We made sure he hadn't been grabbed..."

"I figured," Heero retorted.

"Oh...well...yeah," Duo sighed. "So she's coming to spend a week or something like that here. I told her she could have a room over in the other apartment."

"You really are buying that, you rich son of a bitch?" Timothy demanded of Trowa.

"Yeah," Trowa retorted dryly. "Why the hell else would we have keys for it?"

"My neighbor has keys for my place."

Quatre sniggered.

"We are," Trowa repeated. "They wanted a yard so they moved out...poor-fuck."

"Wow," Heero muttered. The insult had been an afterthought. "What'd I miss last night?"

"Not getting laid," Duo returned. "I'll trade you places next time."

Matty laughed happily at that.

"You sleep by the wall," Trowa muttered to his...friend. "I've got this lovely paranoia thing."

"He'd take the bullet for you," Quatre muttered in amusement.

"Yeah, I suppose," Trowa muttered, kicking at the other so he'd move. He wanted to lay down again.

"Fine...fine...but if I come again I'm bringing a damn air mattress."

"If I thought you were staying the night I'd have gotten ours out for you," Trowa retorted.

"You were _going_ to...but you were too drunk to find it," the guy noted.

Heero started laughing helplessly at that.

Trowa grumbled disconsolately, more at the laughter than at the words.

"It's in the laundry-room," Wufei noted in a tone of realization. "It was in the closets but we moved it to the laundry room."

"Wow," Quatre muttered. "We were all drunk, weren't we?"

Duo sniggered as well.

"Don't tell anyone at work that I slept with you," Timothy muttered irritably to Trowa.

"Why not?" Trowa retorted. "We could say it went all night and you couldn't sit down all day."

"Why _me?_" the man retorted.

"Because Trowa's dick enough he wouldn't take it," Duo noted in amusement. "Besides, if everyone else at work thinks he's got imaginary friends, too, just roll your eyes at them when he says it and don't bother explaining the penthouse part."

"Imaginary friends?" Heero asked blankly.

"_Heero,_" Quatre whined.

"Trowa?" Timothy asked blankly. "Heero? I thought you said his name was Max..."

Matty started giggling.

"You're so stupid it hurts me," Trowa informed Duo.

"Shit, huh?" Duo agreed. "But I'm not the only bad one..._Quatre_."

"I'm too hung-over to give a shit right now," Quatre informed them all. "We're all ex-soldiers with high profiles, dillweed. We changed our names to go incognito and if you tell anyone we'll kick your ass...sound good?"

"Dillweed?" Timothy retorted. "Did you honestly just call me _Dillweed?_"

Trowa, who'd been thinking pretty much the same thing, started laughing.

"So your name isn't Rigel?" he added, turning to look at Trowa.

"Makes it awkward, screaming the wrong name..." Trowa muttered.

Matty laughed wickedly. "Depends on the name."

Heero started laughing.

"No, seriously!" Timothy protested. "You're not making shit up, blondie?"

"Why does everyone call me blondie?" Quatre sighed. "I should dye my damn hair."

"You wouldn't work as a brunette," Wufei noted. "Try red."

Quatre snorted.

"What's it matter?" Trowa muttered, staring at the ceiling again. "Let's just go to sleep a couple more hours and then you can pretend this was all a liquor-dream and forget about it."

The guy was quiet a long moment, then sighed.

"I'm glad I didn't take that approach to it," Matty muttered quietly to Heero. "That'd have hurt my feelings."

Trowa snorted.

"Go to sleep," Duo suggested, yawning. "We can deal with it when we wake back up."

- -

"I totally just tripped," Noin informed Duo happily through speakerphone. She'd gotten off her flight and called him immediately. "I didn't notice the seam in the walk way and totally looked like an ass..."

"I like your ass," Duo informed her helpfully.

She laughed at that.

"You totally just called me like...ten minutes after I dropped you off," Trowa muttered to Timothy in disbelief. "And you thought _I_ had imaginary friends?"

"You wish it was some obsession," the man retorted. "I just left my damn jacket there."

"I'll bring it Monday," Trowa reassured him easily, then smirked. "Or are you worried that I'll tell everyone we slept together?"

A woman who'd been walking by turned her head to focus on him.

"You _wish_ anyone would believe that..."

Trowa snickered. "And why wouldn't they? We did, didn't we?"

The woman sniggered to her companion and they bounced away whispering.

That was funny.

"Only in the most _basic_ of terms," Timothy retorted, obviously bothered by the conversation.

"So who do I jump first?" Noin asked sweetly.

"Me!" they all more or less replied at once, even Matty.

Noin started giggling again, and they finally saw her.

"Hey, I gotta go," Trowa noted. "I'll bring you the jacket on Monday—if you want it before then you'll have to come get it. Just tell the doorman you're there to see me. Rigel Eston, not any other name."

"Shit, I forgot that was assumed," the guy noted, obviously taken off-guard. "Yeah...I don't remember what that guy called you anyway. So...yeah, I may come get it later or tomorrow."

"Right," Trowa agreed. "Bring your blankie if you have one...and an overnight bag."

The guy laughed happily at that. That made Trowa wonder if he really was trying to be a friend. Probably figured it wouldn't hurt after seeing that Trowa lived in a penthouse. Trowa didn't really blame him, they'd had a lot of fun thinking of insults to throw at each other before they'd gotten too drunk to function.

"Warrick!" Noin squeaked.

"Later," Trowa noted as the woman ran at them, closing his phone and tucking it away. If she really noticed it she'd call him on liking someone better than her and keep on it until the end of her visit. She also tended to jump _into_ their arms, one at a time. She was very aware that her weight was scant as far as they thought it.

"I missed you so!" she cooed...and kissed at his throat.

This greeting made a few bystanders grin at each other.

Duo looked a little startled—not that they all weren't. The pair tended to throw the sexual jokes at each other, but Noin had never actually responded to him in that fashion.

Trowa had the severe feeling that this visit was going to be one to remember.

"Maxillion!" Noin squeaked, jumping into Heero's arms. "Oh, look at you! And the boy..." she turned her considerable attention onto Matty, who grinned back at her.

...yes, Trowa decided. She definitely was going to cause some shit to happen.

This oughta be interesting.

- -

"So I told her she could shove it," Lucretzia summed up her fifth or sixth story. Quatre wasn't sure on the number, because he'd zoned out briefly. "This is yours, right?" she asked, indicating the new apartment.

"Yeah, we'll show you in a bit...if it's clean," Duo noted pointedly to Heero and Matty.

"We didn't make a mess in the main rooms," Matty retorted.

Noin turned to look at him with consideration. "What, now?"

"They were using it last night," Duo explained, opening their main apartment. "Heero made him dinner and stuff."

"And stuff?" Lu asked, her eyes sparkling as she considered the boy.

"Lotsa stuff," he agreed, quirking an eyebrow at her.

They both giggled at that.

Quatre wanted to roll his eyes, but contented himself with sliding his shoes off.

"Oh! New carpet!" Noin bounced in and looked around before giving Duo a confused look.

"It's in the room," he supplied, gesturing.

She squeaked happily at him, toed her shoes off, and bounced across to the curtain they used for separation.

Heero and Wufei gave Duo amused look.

Duo gestured his confusion back to them with an over-exaggerated shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh! I love this color!" she cooed, moving back from the door to look them all over with a happy smile. "It's a good one...whose was it?"

"What?" Quatre asked blankly.

"I mean...which manor did you steal it from? That's what you did, right?" she gestured at the furniture.

Quatre grinned wickedly at her.

"No, we bought it," Heero explained, moving toward the couch. "That's how we met him," he indicated Matty, who had started for the kitchen.

"Seriously?" Noin asked, looking around to him. "You picked him up buying carpet?"

"Well," Heero returned, tilting his head. "I tried to, but it didn't work...he picked me up."

Matty focused on Heero in disbelief

"We were leaving," Wufei explained, knowing the boy probably didn't understand how they defined things in general. "Heero had given it up as a bad move on his part and Matty gave him his number as we left."

Noin squeaked, turning to look at Matty happily.

He grinned back at that, looking a little abashed.

"So, I'm going to work out," Trowa muttered, stretching his neck.

"Ooh," Noin muttered, moving to stand in front of him and give him a coy look. "Can I watch?"

"Would I ever tell you no?" Trowa purred back at her.

She laughed wickedly, then bounced past him toward the couches with Heero.

Matty blinked at Trowa.

"Our friends are incredibly special," Duo noted, pulling drinks out of the fridge. "Never forget that. They're all a bunch of nutcases and trust us enough to let us see the full depravity there-in," he indicated the female.

"Depravity, Duo?" she asked sweetly. "Why don't we go check out the new apartment?"

He smirked at her, heading toward the door. "I _like_ that idea...I really do."

- -

Matty couldn't help his smile, and really wanted to call into work and claim sickness or something so he could hang out with her more. Her sense of humor matched his really well, and she totally understood things no one else seemed to get.

"Matty!" she whispered, darting into the kitchen to his side. "Matty!"

"What?" he asked quietly, looking around curiously. Heero and Wufei were doing their forms in the gym while Duo and Quatre did a workout. They were laughing and joking with each other, and Trowa was sitting on the couch.

"I just got this great idea," she informed him.

"Oh?" he asked skeptically. Considering that he'd only talked to her over the course of a couple hours, he was never sure _when_ she was being serious.

She nodded eagerly, glancing at Trowa, who had noticed them but was pretending not to pay attention. She leaned forward to his ear. "Don't go to work," she whispered.

Matty snorted, pulling away to look at her.

Her eyes were absolutely sparkling. She nodded her head eagerly at him, then leaned forward again. "Call in sick, right?" she whispered on. "Tell them you can't come in because...because you're having a stomach problem, curled up on your bed...and then me and you can go to the mall."

"What makes you think I want to go to the mall?" Matty demanded, meeting her eyes properly.

Trowa was openly looking at them as Heero started laughing. Duo added something that made Heero laugh even harder, and Trowa glanced up.

"Do it," Noin whispered, staring happily into Matty's eyes.

"Hey, Heero?" Matty muttered, moving around her into the living room proper.

"Yeah?" Heero returned happily.

"What would happen if I lost my job?"

"You'd have more time to hang out?" he asked in return.

"You guys were saying I should just move in and pay you some rent," Matty retorted. "If I lose my job, I lose my income."

"Mm," Heero realized the issue. "You'd have more time to hang out?"

Matty tilted his head.

"We don't need your money, kid," Trowa noted in amusement. "The rent thing was so you don't get a guilty conscious."

"Seriously?" Matty asked blankly.

Trowa shrugged.

"Besides," Quatre noted, "if you lose this one you could just get another one...I know I'd hate not to have my own income."

"Yeah...but I was thinking about not going to work tonight...and I have a feeling the lady here is going to get me to stay home again before she goes. Not exactly great job-planning. I can't exactly take more time off, I used my vacation time for that damn L-5 trip."

Heero moved over to the edge of the loft, looking down at him with sparkling eyes. He tilted his head after a moment, his expression endlessly curious. "You'd have more time to hang out?"

Matty grinned at him.

He grinned back, and moved back toward his place on the matting.

"So...call in?" Noin asked, indicating the vid on the wall between the bathroom and laundry room.

Not many people _had_ those in their houses; but it _was_ a penthouse.

"Okay, I'm not going to just _quit_," Matty retorted, pulling out his cell phone. "I'd actually rather _not_ lose this job, especially when we build the door between the two places," he indicated the bedroom. "My discount will help a ton, and the crap I can borrow from them since I'm an employee...it'll make it ten times easier, so I'm going to do this the smart way." He turned and headed toward the room.

Noin bounced happily after him.

"I always knew I liked your boyfriend," Trowa noted toward the loft. "He comes in all sorts of useful."

"I rather enjoy him myself," Heero noted.

"Hey, now," Matty warned, sitting on Heero's bed. "If I start feeling like an object, you'll all wish you hadn't found me."

Heero sniggered.

Matty sat still a long moment as Noin sat with him, watching him with interest. He flashed her a brief grin, then focused entirely on the nightmare he'd had where Ranger had come into the apartment with Jaden's gun. He hadn't actually seen Ranger's weapon, but he _had_ seen Jaden's. The fear and uncertainty that had surrounded the whole ordeal, up to the _end_, had attacked him in that nightmare. The guy had come into the apartment and held them all at gunpoint. He'd seen Heero avoid that easily on his escape, but in the dream none of them had been able to do anything.

It had been terrifying...and Heero'd woken him up _out_ of it, so his mind hadn't been able to give him an escape route. It had shaken him badly the rest of the night—most of those nightmares did, and even laying in Heero's arm didn't help to make him feel less helpless...not even hearing the other four men sleeping around as well.

They'd all saved him—but he knew all too well what it felt like to be alone and helpless.

That was why he'd attached to Jaden the way he had—Jaden had given him an ounce of control.

"Casto Hardware, this is Pamela," Pamela chirped happily.

"Hey, Pam," Matty muttered, allowing himself to drop backwards on the bed as Noin gave him a concerned look.

"Matt?" she asked in concern. "Are you okay?"

"I guess I will be," Matty returned, passing a hand over his eyes—Noin caught it, concern obvious in her eyes. He shook her off, looking away. "I know its short notice...but..."

"Are you okay?" Pamela repeated, her tone more concerned. "You don't sound so great."

"Well," Matty returned, swallowing as the feeling of the fear passed through him again. "I kept waking up last night from these dreams..."

"Rick said something happened on your vacation," she noted. "I thought you were just making stuff up until I saw you...I take it you don't feel that great?"

"No," Matty agreed. "I'm going to curl up here and try to get back to sleep...I'm sorry I didn't call earlier, I really thought I'd be able to work tonight."

"What happened?" she asked in concern. "Rick keeps telling us to ask you."

Rick was Matty's supervisor.

"I'd...I'd rather not talk about it," Matty noted, smiling slightly at Noin. The apartment had gone remarkably silent.

Trowa pushed through the curtain leading to the room, his expression troubled as he moved closer to the bed.

"I mean...I'll tell you about it some time," Matty added. "But...not right now, okay?"

"All right," Pamela muttered. "Take care of yourself, huh? Get some sleep."

"I will," he reassured her.

"All right," she muttered, and he could hear a keyboard clicking. "Bye."

"Bye," Matty returned, ending the call.

Heero pushed into the room as well, his eyes concerned as he moved past Trowa.

"I'm all right!" Matty protested at all of them, smiling at his boyfriend. "I'm okay! I was just making...a good excuse, you know?"

"You didn't sound okay," Noin noted, grabbing his hand. "With all the stuff we've gone through, being taken prisoner or hostage isn't much more than an inconvenience...but you weren't raised like that. You weren't trained like that..."

"I'm okay, really," Matty protested, sitting up and not letting Heero grab him. "I just know that Rick keeps telling me that if I feel like I need a day off they'll understand. Really," he added, looking between Heero and Trowa a moment, then glancing over to the loft where Duo and Quatre were standing.

He didn't really feel completely all right, he'd been ignoring those emotions during the daylight hours. They were things of the past, or deep dark nights...not of the day with the laughing group of friends that surrounded him. Quatre would know the truth, and he looked at the blond with sincere eyes...hoping...

Quatre sighed, looking away a moment. "He is okay," the blond lied. "He's a good little actor, though."

Matty smiled slightly up at him, grateful.

"You sure?" Heero muttered, running his fingers through Matty's hair and pulling his head so he'd rest it against his abdomen. "Really?"

"I am, really," Quatre reassured him, meeting his eyes. "I'll pull him aside and talk to him later to be completely sure, huh?"

"All right," Heero agreed, moving to sit next to him and study his face. "Don't do that to me...I thought you were about to start crying."

Matty smiled back at him as Trowa hesitated, then took a step back. He hesitated again before taking another, then another...and turning to leave the room.

"So..." Noin muttered, still considering the younger man's face. "What were you saying about the mall?"

"I didn't say anything about the mall," Matty retorted. "You were the one on about it."

"So what do you say about it now?" she asked, grinning at him.

He gave her a look, then looked around to Heero. "I wanna call Taili and Abel," he muttered. "I haven't been spending any time with them...we could all go to the mall...if you don't mind," he noted to Noin.

"Who're Taili and Abel?" she asked, her eyes sparkling again.

"Taili is eighteen for a month or two," Matty retorted. "Abel's nineteen."

She laughed at that, casting Heero a naughty look, then bounced to her feet. "I'm gonna go do my makeup, then we can go."

"Oh, gee, can we?" Matty asked, giving her a look.

She laughed at that, and bounced away.

Heero kissed Matty as he stood up. "You call your friends."

Matty nodded, watching him walk away, then raised his phone again.

He knew that Quatre meant what he said about pulling him aside—and if he could get his friends to hang out with a game console it'd give the blond less a chance of catching him alone.

Heero'd said he wanted to get to know Matty's friends, hadn't he? It was probably time that process started.

- -

E/N: hehe, thanks for the review, Crystal!


	4. 03

**Three**

Ranger stood, surveying the empty apartment with narrowed eyes.

Rabid wasn't as clueless as he pretended to be sometimes. He'd known they'd need hostages to gain their independence. That was why they'd taken the tourist ship. It'd probably have gone better if there was more than one lousy boy from earth. They'd probably have gotten media attention then.

Since that had failed, they'd decided on a plan B. Late one night when most of the bastards surrounding 27 were sleeping, they'd launched a handful of MS. A few of them had worked decoy, and one of them had contained a man who no longer wanted to be part of the game. He'd surrendered himself, which was probably when the units had realized the MS were unarmed.

Getting back to 27 was going to be difficult. The Preventers had circled the colony like a bunch of old vultures...war-rick bastards hungering for another battle. The peace would never hold. There were too many frictions. The Peacecraft bitch could preach total pacifism until her tongue fell out, but until there was a surgery available to remove men's pride, it would never hold.

All the grand ideals in the world only amounted to the golden rule—whoever had the gold made the rules. The weak followed like sheep, doing what they could so that their master could pat their heads like the dirty dogs they were.

Of course, when he said things like that Rabid always hushed him.

No one wanted to hear the truth, they wanted the sugar-coated lies. They wanted everything to be peaches and butterflies, not knives and rabid wolves.

Ranger smiled viciously at the notion.

No one seemed to see the irony in the name their leader had earned himself. There was some honey-coated story going around about him fighting like a rabid badger in battle...no one ever seemed to notice the bit that the humans infected with rabies tended to go insane as well...just like Edgar Allan Poe.

_Quoth the raven, "nevermore." _

Ranger smiled more, looking around the empty apartment. He'd gotten to it in the early afternoon, around three or so...and no one was there. It was going on five, and no one had returned. He couldn't tell if anyone was around or not, but he doubted it. Someone'd said the prince was getting nervous and had skived off...the woman must have gone with him.

He'd have to look it up. Shouldn't take too long, Rab had figured that 27 would get surrounded and closed off from society, so they'd put up a network of people who could act outside of the colony. They all knew that Ranger was his agent now, so they'd all work with him very well...very very well.

The man sniffed slightly, moving into an office and moving over to flick on the computer. He'd check the history to see if the pair had been looking at flights. That should give him a good start—especially if they were the sort to keep records of that sort of thing _on_ their computers.

He doubted it'd be _that_ easy...but it was worth a shot.

- -

Milliardo closed his eyes as he rested against a paper-thin wall, listening to a couple arguing in the room next to his. Evidently the man hadn't bought the woman a single thing for Valentine's Day and she was letting him know how worthless she thought he was while he reminded her she was nothing but a dirty whore, and he wasn't going to spend the money on her when he could buy his crack.

Well, that was an assumption on Milliardo's part.

He loved L-2 slums.

He was on V08744...and the fact that Duo'd been raised there seemed to figure. There was no other reason the annoying man would have the personality he did.

Zechs grinned a bit. That wasn't fair, but he wasn't trying to _be_ fair. According to Lu's phone, she'd gone to earth—to Los Angeles. The only people she knew who lived in LA, in fact that anyone knew in LA...were the former Gundam pilots.

Duo'd had his head turned by Lu far too many times for Zechs' piece of mind...and worse, she had a tendency to dress nice when he was around. They went out shopping, to lunch, and occasionally drinking together. She'd take long lunches to go out with him...

Considering that over the years, the only competition Zechs had ever _had_ for Lu's attention had _been_ Duo, he didn't really think she'd stray. It was just nerve-wracking, because he also knew that Duo had the ability to _make_ her stray.

Milliardo shook his head sourly.

It didn't help that he'd left right before Valentine's Day, either. He'd actually intended to get her some roses before he did, but then someone'd been following him.

Une had informed him that someone was looking to take him hostage. She'd refused to tell him if it was the 27 idiots or one of the other random groups that infested the colonies and earth like flies on a pig-carcass...he'd noticed he was being followed before that, but her saying as much meant that she was expecting him to deal with himself.

The woman started crying, and the man punched the wall.

Milliardo didn't _trust_ anyone. The only person he was ever entirely sure of anymore was Lu. He hated that he'd had to leave her like he had, but the vultures had been circling, and he'd wanted her to go too. If he'd said anything to her about it, she would have insisted they stood their ground and took the people down.

His plan, which had worked disgustingly well, was to make her think he'd left on her again. He'd had a few issues with commitment in the past, and they'd led him to run away so he could clear his head. It always came back to the fact that he didn't like being without her anymore. After he'd realized that, he'd gone back like a mutt with its tail between his legs and she'd taken him back...again.

He wasn't so sure if she would anymore. This might have been the straw that broke the camel's back. She'd never left the colonies when he'd done it before. She'd always go to Sally or one of her other girlfriends...but she did always leave, and that was what he needed her to do.

Just why earth?

The man's anger gave-out, and he started comforting the woman.

Great...now they were going to have make-up sex that would probably be annoyingly loud. Aww...he'd forgotten it was Valentine's Day? Poor poor man, instead of biting the bullet and admitting it, he'd had to try to talk around it...hell, why hadn't she said something about it to him _on_ the day? Lu wouldn't have let it pass.

Zechs groaned to himself and flicked the television on.

He'd accepted long ago that his life sucked. It had been one misfortune after the other...the only time he'd known anything other had been during the Eve Wars...and not even through all of it. Only the first bit had been fine. Everything that had followed had been nonsense.

The couple in the other room had gone quiet, and Milliardo sighed, pretty sure he knew what was coming.

He _had_ missed Valentine's Day, and he hadn't wanted to. He'd been planning a dinner before shit had hit the fan. He'd wanted to take her to a little garden caf. He'd seen her noticing off and on and looking at him. It wasn't the sort of place he'd ever have really wanted to go, and she'd never asked him to take her. She knew it wasn't his sort of place, so she'd have appreciated him taking her...and flowers...and a necklace.

He sighed at a few telltale thumps from the next room over and turned the television up a little more.

He'd left her again and really _had_ gone to hell. Maxwell had said as much the last time he'd done it. You leave her again, you piece of shit, and I'll make sure she's comforted while you burn in hell.'

Something to that effect, anyway.

He was going to have to deck the man the next time he saw him. No warning, no explanation...just go give him a nice black eye. They could get drunk and laugh about it later.

He could get drunk now.

Milliardo sat up, that idea appealing highly. He didn't want to hear if the neighbors actually did have sex...maybe he'd get lucky and they'd be done by the time he got back.

Either way, he was going to work on getting drunk after that. Maybe then he'd stop thinking about what Duo might possibly be doing to _his_ Lu.

...she wouldn't do it. She...he had to have faith in her.

- -

"What do you think?" Duo muttered, gesturing toward a little caf with his and Lucretzia's joined hands.

"Here?" she asked, looking curiously at the thing.

"No," he retorted sarcastically. "We just parked down the street from it and I'm showing it to you for shits and giggles..._yes_, here."

She giggled, meeting his eyes before looking back to the place.

Duo rolled his eyes slightly as they moved closer. He was wearing slacks and a sapphire blue button up top. He'd tempered the fairly work-related look by leaving the shirt halfway unbuttoned with a white wife-beater underneath it...under his leather jacket with a pair of his shiny shoes.

His professional wardrobe made him look rich, and that seemed about right for taking _her_ out.

He grinned, looking her over from the corner of his eye. She had on her little black dress. It fell to her knees and was fairly low cut...which looked very nice, and would have been damn hot with a pair of strappy sandals and something shiny above her cleavage—but she'd gone for the _fucking_ hot thing of adding combat-boots and leg-warmers.

Duo had to smile more at that. There was a cold wind that made the outfit too cold on its own. She had thought to wear the leg-warmers with her strappy sandals, but Duo'd told her not to bother when she'd started to fuss.

She did look nice, she had her short hair fluffed and positioned in an appealing way, and she'd done her make-up...the boots and leg-warmers were an almost funny addition.

He moved forward, pulling the door to the place open for her, and smiling as she moved past him inside, pulling off her trench coat.

It saddened him that this really _was_ her Valentine's treat. She wasn't with the man she loved, but with a very dear friend. She needed his support and he wasn't going to hesitate to give it to her...and hopefully the next time he saw the damn prince he could walk up to the man and deck him. He wouldn't have to explain why.

"Reservation?" the matre d' asked curiously.

"Tembler," Duo returned.

"For two?" the man smiled sweetly at Noin, then looked to her legs curiously.

"It's cold outside!" she protested, grinning.

He smiled back at her and nodded his head, grabbing two menus.

"You have the wine I wanted, correct?" Duo added as they neared the table. "I was told you could get it."

"Of course we have it," the man returned. "It's already been cracked and is on ice—we'll bring it out momentarily."

Duo nodded his agreement.

"What, now?" she asked sweetly.

"I ordered some wine," Duo returned, shrugging as the man started away. He took her coat from her and hung it from the hook next to their table, then moved to hold the chair for her. "It's nothing for you to worry about."

She smiled at that, sitting down.

He swung his own jacket off and hung it, taking his seat as the man, true to his word, moved toward them.

"A.C. 177," the man noted, allowing Duo to sniff the cork. "Just like you asked..."

Noin started giggling. "_What?_"

"The year this was made, miss," the man returned, smiling sweetly at her as he carefully poured her a glass. "Many good things came that year..." he met her eyes, grinning.

She smiled back at that, then turned the smile onto Duo, giving him a flattered and amused look.

"Many," he agreed, accepting his cup. "Very many...especially in the spring."

"Ah, yes," the waiter muttered quickly, showing her the date on the bottle.

Fifteen, May. A.C. 177.

"Oh, Warrick!" she gasped, staring at that in amazement before meeting his eyes.

He smiled at her. It had been fairly hard to find a bottle of wine made the day she was born in the course of two hours...he'd called about every cafe and fine dining establishment in the city before finding one that could accommodate his desires..._they_ had twenty-four hours to get it, though, so it wasn't nearly as tight.

The waiter smiled at her, cast an approving grin at Duo, then decided to make himself scarce.

She wordlessly grabbed his hand in both of hers—his left hand. She raised that to her mouth and kissed the tip of his middle finger, studying his eyes as she did so.

"I know you had a bad day yesterday," he muttered, pulling her hand back to his lips. "So I wanted to do something _for_ you."

Tears filled her eyes as she pressed her hand against his lips, then pulled away to wipe at her eyes.

"And think," he muttered, pushing her cup toward her. "If we'd come here yesterday it would have been crowded with giggly girls, right? Tonight it's almost only us," he gestured toward the two or three other couples in the place. "Is this okay?"

Tears spilled down her cheeks and she wiped them away before taking his hand again, then grabbing her glass and sniffing at it curiously.

He passed her a napkin, still considering her eyes.

"You absolutely ruined my make-up," she accused him, wiping at her eyes as the stuff she'd carefully applied wiped away.

"You don't need it," he reassured her, smiling a bit wanly. "You're beautiful anyway."

- -

"Are you sure it's okay?" Heero asked Wufei nervously.

"No," Wufei returned, meeting his eyes. "The next question is do I care? I don't, you know. If Duo wants to snatch Lu up on the rebound he may as well. He's been besotted with her long enough."

"But...I mean...what if Milliardo didn't actually leave her? What if..."

"What if pigs grew blue?" Wufei cut him off. "What if space changed from black to pink? What if grass stopped being green in protest?"

Heero frowned at him.

"What I'm saying," Wufei noted quietly, leaning forward, "is don't worry about it. Let the cards fall as they may. I don't think Duo will follow through with any of this. She insisted yesterday that he take her to Valentine's, so he's doing it."

Heero looked down.

"You can talk to him about it tomorrow," Wufei reassured him. "Or tonight. She's going to take a room in the apartment, so if you wait up for him, he'll probably stay up and talk it out with you."

Heero nodded, thinking about that. Matty had most Sundays off. He'd called his friends about the mall thing with Lucretzia earlier in the day, and they'd come back to the apartments with him. They were all over in the second apartment with a tv and some game console. Heero wasn't entirely sure where the tv had come from, but he figured that between the three of them, they'd scrounged it up somewhere.

They'd been trying to get him to play the game, but when he had, he'd flown through the first level for a record time that had beat Matty's previous top-score. He'd decided at that point not to do it anymore. He felt bad that he'd beat Matty's score; Matty had been telling him how long it'd taken him to get it...but they seemed to be attempting to beat _his_ score. They could get rather loud...

Wufei had reassured him that they were having fun, a lot of fun from what he could tell...so evidently it wasn't a problem that he'd beat the high score.

"Max!" Matty squeaked, flying through the door. "Max!"

Heero jumped to his feet in alarm, his mind instantly going over every possible entrance to the other apartment.

"I did it!" Matty informed him proudly, bouncing up to jump on him. "I did it! I beat it!"

"I beat it first!" Abel noted, bouncing happily after. "It was _damn_ hard!"

Heero blinked at them.

"I beat it!" Matty repeated, bouncing slightly in Heero's arms. "You need to go beat it again...faster...so we can try to beat _that_..."

"What are you playing?" Wufei asked skeptically.

"It's a race game," Matty returned, grinning at him. "You should try, too!"

"If you get him in on it, the two of them will be trying to out-gun each other and there'd be no way you could ever beat it," Trowa noted from the loft.

Matty giggled at that.

"Did you just _giggle?_" Taili demanded, his dark eyes flashing in amusement as he looked between the three older males. "Did he really?"

"Shut-up!" Matty retorted, throwing himself at the other guy happily so he stumbled back.

Abel started laughing happily, then gestured at Heero. "Come on! Come beat it again for us!"

Heero looked to Wufei uncertainly.

"It's a personal challenge," Wufei muttered in French. "They're probably all at the same skill level."

Taili's eyes had rolled back in a way that meant he was thinking fast.

"Was that French?" Abel demanded, looking between them in disbelief.

"What languages do your friends speak?" Wufei demanded of Matty irritably. He'd wanted to give his friend reassurance in a way they wouldn't recognize.

"Taili took French in high school," Matty explained, shrugging. "We all speak Japanese...and me and Taili know Chinese...Mandarin...and Abel knows German." He looked back to Heero. "You speak French?"

"I speak a lot of languages," Heero returned, giving him a pointed sort of look. If Matty took a moment to think about it, he'd realize why—and also probably that their skills didn't go much past the conversational level.

"That's cool," Abel muttered, grinning slightly at Taili. "I bet _he_ can teach us!"

"Huh?" Heero asked blankly.

"We want to learn Spanish," Matty returned, grinning at him. "We all decided we wanted to learn the romance languages...that's why Ty took French."

"And you can speak it?" Wufei asked skeptically.

"Not really," Taili admitted, shrugging. "I try some, but I'm not that great...do you speak Spanish? Or you?" he focused between them.

Wufei pointed at the loft.

"Rige?" Matty squeaked.

"You did _not!_" Trowa protested, moving forward from where he'd been sitting in the window. He was holding a book. The words were to Wufei and Heero.

"You speak Spanish?" Matty demanded, turning and bouncing toward the stairs. His friends were quick to follow.

Trowa glared between Heero and Wufei a moment, then turned his focus on the teens as they stopped to bounce in front of him.

"Cute kids," Wufei muttered from the side of his mouth to Heero. "I'm gonna go try to mediate, keep'em off me if you can at all."

Heero grinned at that, watching the Chinese man dart for the room.

"I'm gonna go play that level," Heero noted...as he'd hoped, it distracted them. It cut off the tide of begging and offers the teens were throwing at Trowa. They thought their arguments were valid, but Heero playing the game was enough of a distraction that they all turned to follow...almost instantly.

Really, Heero thought Quatre might have the right idea. He'd retreated to one of the bedrooms of the apartment with a book. The teens respected him in an insanely weird way, which meant they were mostly trying to keep it down since he was reading.

Heero wasn't sure why Trowa wasn't afforded that same courtesy...but he could ask Matty later.

It wasn't like he'd be going to bed until after Duo got back anyway. They'd have plenty of time to talk...after his friends went home.

- -

"Ma'am?"

Une looked up from the computer screen she'd been staring at so long her head had started to hurt.

"The searches have returned nothing," the quiet soldier muttered, looking down embarrassedly.

"Nothing?" she echoed, closing her eyes and starting to rub them. She'd have to wear her glasses now or gain a migraine for her troubles. "Are you very sure?"

"The men who went are changing out of their spacesuits," the man returned. "They should be back here within the next fifteen minutes."

Une nodded.

He hesitated a moment, then stepped back. When she watched him and didn't call him back, he nodded his head respectfully and disappeared back the way he had come.

Didn't it figure?

She hadn't thought they'd have much more success, after all. The man who'd surrendered—a soldier named Ratdy—he'd said they'd used the maintenance MS on purpose. He'd said that they'd been trying to get a few men out of their colony, but they hadn't told him why. He'd been a soldier, his rank made him the one of the many legs the others would stand on. They hadn't told him what he didn't need to know, and that meant that his defection from their ranks hadn't been worth more than a sigh before including him into their plan.

He'd also given them solid numbers...the death toll from their fateful decision to take one little boy...

It bothered Une to know that twelve men had fallen between the five former pilots. The wounded count, however, had been considerably higher. Twice? Three times? That number hadn't sank into her brain the way the twelve deaths had. There'd been many wounded from them, and from the fire they'd brought. She'd heard the numbers before that, from the two men she had on the inside, but she'd stopped asking them to report. They needed to leave 27 before the whole ordeal claimed two more lives for an independence that was as reckless and meaningless as...

As what?

Une sighed tiredly, spinning around in her seat to pull open the drawer that held her glasses.

She'd been intending to get her own men in, and do it in a way that meant no lives would have been lost...but that had fallen short. Just like the argument she'd had with Rabid. He'd shouted at her and demanded why the ESA had sent in such a hostile...hostile and bloodthirsty...force. He'd worked himself into his lather, much like he usually did when talking about the Gundam pilots. She'd reinstated their rank, ever so briefly, to keep them from getting jail time for their vigilante nonsense. She couldn't _actually_ tell Rabid that she'd had nothing to do with the brigadiers being there, she hadn't even realized they were _in_ space to begin with, let alone about to attack a colony. The man also wouldn't understand that they'd only done it _because_ of that boy...that Williams boy.

Rabid would never understand the extremes those pilots were willing to face without flinching. He'd wanted them dead since the wars had first been over, and the fact that they'd slipped through the hangman's noose had probably been part of the reason he'd left to start his own crazy nation.

Didn't he realize why his plan wouldn't work? Didn't he realize how many things a country had to have before it could be recognized? Those things included public support _before_ their attempts to rule themselves.

There was a tap at the door and the young man who was making people leave her alone stepped back in again. "They've arrived, Ma'am," he noted quietly.

"Thank you," she muttered, rising to her feet.

Three men moved into the room and saluted her.

"I don't suppose there's a chance in hell or Mercury that you have good news," she noted.

"Not particularly," the older of the three agreed, smiling slightly at her.

"Then what do you have to say?"

"What I've heard said," he returned. "What I think...what you haven't deigned to notice yet."

"Craber," one of the others elbowed him, looking mildly alarmed.

Une crossed her arms, considering the three of them with narrowed eyes. "And what might that be?"

"Someone on this colony is helping them," the guy muttered, gesturing vaguely.

"Helping them how?" Une returned.

"They have to have somewhere to hide an MS," the man retorted.

"Yes, we've looked," Une reminded him. "All through the storage depot, we have men comparing bin numbers."

The man studied her a long moment, then looked away. "Maybe you have the wrong men."

"And maybe you're paranoid," she retorted irritably. "Who would be the right men, then, pray tell?"

He blinked and met her eyes.

"Put them forward for consideration," she pressed, giving him a long level look.

He hesitated and looked to his comrades.

"No?" she asked, then smiled sweetly. "Very well then, we will continue as we have been. You found nothing outside this colony, that's what you're here to tell me about. Do so now."


	5. 04

**Four**

"I don't know, Lu," Sally muttered tiredly, dropping back in her seat. "There's no point in you being back yet."

"No?" Lucretzia tilted her head curiously.

"We've got nothing," Sally shrugged. "They ran the blockade and that's all she wrote. We can't find the M.S. they used..."

"M.S.?" Duo demanded, turning to look at the laptop screen. Lu'd called Sally from her laptop and was sitting on the couch in the second apartment.

"Aren't you supposed to be working or something?" Sally asked him darkly.

"It's Sunday," Duo retorted, moving to sit next to Lu on the sofa. "The only one of us who works Sundays is Matty."

"One of you?" Sally asked blankly. "You do mean that little Helen-boy, right?"

"Helen-boy?" Duo echoed blankly.

"You know, Helen of Troy...the face that launched a thousand ships? Everyone keeps saying you stormed Troy...that'd make him Helen, right?"

Noin sniggered.

"Wasn't Troy under siege for ten years?" Duo demanded. "Une herself said that one didn't work..."

"The great heroes were there," Noin noted, studying Duo's face with bright eyes.

Sally looked between them a moment, then took a drink of her coffee. "So...any news from that vagrant boyfriend of yours?"

Lucretzia's shoulders dropped as she looked back to the screen and shrugged.

"He's just having one of his fits, as far as we can tell," Duo noted sardonically.

The door to the apartment swung somewhat violently open, and the pair turned to look at it as Heero backed into the place with Matty in his arms. The younger man's legs were wrapped just enough around Heero's waist that the Asian male didn't have to support him...but evidently the kissing was keeping Heero from focusing on where he was walking.

"They're here!" Heero protested, catching himself against the door. "I told you they were!"

"Shut up and go to the room," Matty retorted, biting at Heero's throat.

"You have to go to work," Heero protested.

Duo noted that Matty had a pair of slacks on with one of his nicer shirts...though that seemed to be about the extent of it.

"So I'll be five minutes late," Matty pulled away to meet his eyes. "It's five minutes..."

"But..." Heero was at a loss.

"Hm," Noin muttered, looking back to the screen. "I'll call you back later."

"I can't see more'n that it's Heero," Sally muttered, having leaned forward.

Lucretzia grinned and lifted the laptop, moving so it had a clear shot behind her at the pair. Heero managed to close the door, but he seemed to have forgotten his arguments about the guy being late for work.

"Yeah, we're gonna wanna head over to the other place," Duo noted in amusement.

"Hurry up, too," Matty agreed as Heero stumbled somewhat with him toward the hall.

Sally started laughing.

Matty pulled away from Heero in disbelief, focusing on the screen as Heero turned.

"Oh...hey, Sally," Heero licked his lips as he caught his breath some. "Uh..."

Sally started laughing even more.

"So...we may lose connection," Lu muttered, rising to her feet and starting for the door. "I'm not sure how the reception is around here."

"Sorry I can't talk," Heero called, exchanging a wicked grin with Duo. "I'll call you later, huh Sally?"

"All right," Sally returned, her voice dancing merrily—she wasn't quite laughing.

"That was kinda embarrassing," Matty noted, meeting Heero's eyes.

"Nonsense," Heero returned as the apartment door shut again. He swung the door open to their room. "She knows we're together...what are you worried about?"

"I dunno, it's just..."

"You always get so embarrassed," Heero muttered, swinging the guy around to the bed. "I don't think I'll ever get it."

"You're not really human," Matty retorted, making a face at him before leaning in for a kiss.

"Don't say that," Heero muttered, feeling a twitch in his emotions. "I don't like hearing that."

"What?" Matty asked blankly. He'd heard Heero say things like that before to the others, and he'd always assumed it was some inside thing.

"Saying I'm not human...it bothers me," Heero shook his head, leaning in to start kissing at his throat.

"Oh...okay..." Matty didn't get it, but Duo'd probably explain it...and there were actually much more interesting things going on.

- -

"So...why hasn't Matty left for work yet?" Quatre asked, a coffee cup in his hands as he studied the younger man's shoes. They were sitting with their socks in them in front of the door.

"Huh?" Duo looked around to him and grinned. "Oh...he and Heero went over to their room," he indicated the second apartment with his head. "He said something about being five minutes late."

Quatre considered that as he sipped his cup of coffee, scratching at his bare chest a moment and looking around to the clock. It said nine, which was the point he was supposed to be starting work, and it would take him at least twenty minutes to get there if traffic cooperated with him. "So...he'll be at _least_ half hour late _now_. Should we pound on the wall?"

Duo guffawed happily.

"I'm gonna so get fired!" Matty entered the apartment like their conversation was a conveniently placed writer's device. "I can't believe...do I look okay?" he appealed to the two males, spreading his arms.

"Straighten your buttons," Duo suggested, grinning slightly at the guy.

He looked down at his shirt and cursed, sliding his hand down them so they all popped open.

"So if that comes off that fast," Quatre muttered, tilting his head, "why are you _this_ late?"

Matty laughed, meeting his eyes briefly as he sat and pulled his socks on.

Quatre snorted and headed back toward the couch.

"Did you have fun?" Lucretzia asked happily. She was curled on the couch, and had been messing with the remote between her bare toes.

Matty flashed her a wicked grin.

"What time's your lunch?" she added.

"Uh..." he pulled one shoe on, then the other as he thought. "It's...at one, I think," he shook his head, straightening his shirt before looking around to Duo hopefully.

"As long as you button it straight," Duo reassured him, looking him over. "No bruises?"

That got him the same naughty grin that had been flashed to Quatre before he turned for the door and stopped short. "Shit!"

They watch him turn and run toward the bedroom area in amusement, hearing him grab something metal—presumably his keys—then turn and dart back for the door.

"Bye!" Duo called happily. "Have a good day at work while I'm lazy all day!"

Matty rounded on him from the door, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Have fun not getting _laid._"

"Hey!" Duo protested.

Matty disappeared, his laughter left behind him as his final good-bye.

Duo started laughing.

"Oops," Heero muttered a moment later, moving into the apartment and stretching languidly in the door.

"You are aware that we're all about to kick your ass, right?" Quatre asked him sweetly. "Your whole getting laid repeatedly thing doesn't settle with us."

Heero flashed him a grin, then noticed his cup.

"It's fresh," Quatre returned, gesturing with the cup toward the kitchen. He turned, looking back to Noin.

"Hm?" she asked curiously.

"I'd really appreciate it," he returned, meeting her eyes and gesturing at her feet, "if you wouldn't put your toes on that."

"I have cute toes!" she protested, her smile flashing across her face.

"They're still toes," Quatre returned, taking another drink as he focused back on the remote. "And...we all have our issues, come on."

She started laughing and put the remote on the coffee table.

Quatre considered that a long moment, then looked back around to Heero and Duo. "We should go out tonight."

"It's Sunday," Duo muttered, blinking at him blankly. "We all _work_ tomorrow."

"I didn't say get drunk," Quatre retorted, turning back toward the couch again.

"You have no idea what to do with yourself, do you?" Lucretzia asked sweetly, studying him.

"Not the slightest inkling," he agreed, moving to drop at the end of the couch. "I don't want to shower yet, but what can I do?"

"Go over to the other apartment and go through all the races on that stupid game," Heero suggested, moving around to stand by the end of the breakfast bar by Duo. "They're going to beg me to do each and every race if no one else goes through and beat it."

"I don't know how to play those machines," Quatre protested.

"Come on," Heero returned, starting for the door. "I'll show you...we can take turns."

- -

"It's twelve-thirty," Lucretzia noted, moving to stand behind the couch in the second apartment. "You're aware of that, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Heero glanced up at her, then focused quickly back on the screen.

"Shit!" Quatre protested, swerving around a wall or something.

Lu watched them obviously get back into the race, then grinned slightly. They'd never been the type to get into games before, and they were both obviously focused on this. "Hey!" she said sharply.

They both _jumped_.

She started laughing wickedly as they both scrambled until one of them found the pause button, turning to look at her. "Are you with me?" she asked, looking from one to the other.

"What are you talking about?" Heero asked blankly.

Lu grinned at him. "It's twelve-thirty. I need to go."

"Go?" Quatre asked blankly.

"I'm meeting Matt for lunch," she returned, giving him a disbelieving look.

They blinked at her, then each other.

"You're not coming with me?" she demanded of Heero.

Heero looked down at his pajama pants, then raised his eyes to hers.

"Obviously not," she retorted, reading it in his eyes. She had to leave or she'd be late. "You're impossible, Yuy," she tousled his hair affectionately, then looked to Quatre's pajama bottoms with a raised eyebrow.

He grinned back at her.

"Anyway," she muttered, rolling her eyes and turning. "I'll be back in an hour or three. Be showered, will ya?" she started for the door.

"Why?"

If anyone other than Heero had asked that question, she'd have given them a disgusted look. "Because I assume we're going to do something," she retorted, and headed out the door.

"Oh," Heero looked back to Quatre. "She really just answered me."

Quatre grinned back, turning to sit properly. "She must not realize you've gotten a good grasp on sarcasm now."

Heero snickered, sitting back as well and considering the buttons of the controller. "Which one of us did it?"

- -

The fool woman obviously didn't even have half the sense of her lover...there was no trace in cyberspace of where the damn prince had gone off to, but the woman had her ticket information saved. She'd _saved_ that information on her computer.

He couldn't really believe it on some levels, but on others he did. Who knew what had cued him off so early that he was a possible target, but he'd managed to disappear...aside from his woman.

Ranger parked his car, considering things.

LA...he'd only been to earth a handful of times, and he'd never been so awestruck as by the cityscape that had stretched as far as he could see in an direction. With so many lights, though, he hadn't been able to see the stars.

He considered the tall building as car after car went by beside him. That would be hard to get used to. The colonies didn't really need personal cars. They usually used the mass-transit system because the distances weren't all that great. Here, there were cars...car after car after car. He was parked in a line of them with a tall parking-tower to his side.

It was very strange to him, it always had been.

The apartment tower he was parked by was the address the girlfriend's rented car had been marked at. He'd had a time finding it to begin with, and then he hadn't been able to drive into the lot to look for the damn thing because you couldn't enter without a pass or calling in.

...he didn't exactly have a way to do that.

What he'd ended up doing, though, was parking on the street and walking into the area.

The car had been in the pent lot, which was a small section near the entrance of the place. He was waiting for the woman to come out, to see if she had the prince with her.

There was still no confirmation of _him_.

He hadn't been sitting there long. Maybe since ten...and it was twelve-thirty.

A dark head popped out of the building, a woman, folding up a piece of paper as she went. She laughed and waved behind her at someone inside, then bounced across the air-bridge.

Was that her? Ranger couldn't really remember the picture of her Rab had showed him. Rab had insisted he not hurt her in the slightest—Ranger had a feeling he'd had a crush on her...it looked like her.

She moved up to the rental car, making it beep before almost skipping to it.

She certainly was pretty.

Ranger grinned slightly, starting his engine. There were so many people and so many cars around, he doubted he'd be spotted in the melee. It was too bad he didn't know where she was going, though, because he'd really _have_ to follow her now.

Ah well...if he had any luck left at all, she wouldn't even notice him.

- -

Matty twitched his leg irritably as his phone buzzed again. He didn't know who kept texting him, but if they didn't stop he was going to get in trouble.

"Our crew," he muttered to the married couple sitting across the table from him, "will take an hour or two to get it installed properly...and during that time..." he tried to ignore the buzz, "it would be more convenient not to have to work around people. Are you willing to vacate the home?"

"Of course," the man replied easily. "We've worked with your crews before."

The phone buzzed again.

Matty smiled at the man, wanting to laugh.

Who the hell _was_ it? It was bad enough he'd been forty minutes late because he'd gotten caught in a snarl of traffic, he didn't need someone texting him so much...

"You still do the insurance stuff, right?" the woman asked curiously. She obviously wasn't so ready to give control of her home over for two hours.

It wasn't like they were going to steal anything, shit.

"Of course," Matty returned. "We like to have the assurance...to insure that our customers are protected in case something goes wrong."

The woman smiled at him.

Lu appeared in the aisle behind the couple, hitting a button.

The phone buzzed again.

Matty wanted to start laughing and smack her, but kept his composure. "When would you like the carpet installed?"

"As soon as you can manage it, really," the man said happily. "I always love coming here...you have the widest selection...and you're always so helpful."

Matty smiled at him, realizing he _had_ worked with them before. He'd recognized them somewhat. He accessed the schedule on the computer screen, focusing on the available times. "How about tomorrow at two?"

"Really? That early?" the woman sat up excitedly.

Matty gestured at the screen, smiling at her as Lucretzia started to pirouette behind them.

Dear lord he was going to hurt her.

"I told you," the woman muttered to her husband. "You had to put it off..."

"I didn't want to go to that other place," he retorted, then smiled back at Matty.

Lucretzia posed in a come-get-me way.

Matty ran a hand down his face, trying to keep from laughing as he started typing up the information on the computer. "And what's the address?"

It didn't take him long to close the deal and send the couple off with a smile, and the entire time Lu bounced around the aisle behind them.

"I'm going to _skin_ you," he hissed at her when they couple had turned the corner. "You're going to get me fired!"

She laughed delightedly, grabbing something off the shelf and bouncing across to him and showing him what she'd grabbed. "Excuse me, sir? What's this for?"

"You use it to knock out annoying visitors," Matty retorted.

She laughed delightedly. "Are you almost done?"

"I have to finish typing this up...here," he took the bottle from her. "Go to the back," he pointed at an aisle. "There's a door back there that says employees only. Go sit in there...I might get pulled aside by another customer, so it could be ten or fifteen minutes...you gonna make it?"

She laughed at that, straightening.

"Go," he instructed, waving her off and moving around the desk to put the bottle back.

She flashed him her sweet smile, then bounced off where he'd directed.

He pulled his phone out as he set the bottle where she'd grabbed it from, noting that the messages _were_ all from her.

He snorted, putting that way and moving back toward the desk as another couple moved up to it.

"I'm sorry!" he cried, moving around quickly. "Hold on just a moment," he muttered. He typed up the last few lines he needed on the former order and moved to sit down.

Someone was moving at the end of an aisle, slowly, obviously watching down the aisle ahead of him.

Matty turned to look...and his heart stopped.

Ranger.

He stared at the man in horror, backing away from the console.

The couple waiting for him turned to look as well, alarmed...then confused, since Ranger wasn't a robber in any way they could see.

"I...I..." Matty couldn't make his voice work. "Excuse me," he squeaked at them, then turned...and fell over his chair.

"Are you okay?" the man asked, alarmed again. "Sir?"

Matty scrambled up from the floor, looking back...

Ranger was looking at him.

Matty half-tripped over the chair again, fear tearing at his chest...then turned and _ran_.

"Fuck!" Ranger snarled.

Matty didn't wait to see if he was chasing. He knew the store better than the man anyway, and he also knew the security was right _inside_ the employee door.

He slammed through it, glancing back...no one was there, then darted into the room.

"Took you long enough!" Lu protested at him in mock exasperation.

"Matt? Matt?" one of the security guys shoved through the door, his dark face concerned. "Matt? What was that all about?"

"Ranger!" he spluttered, looking around to Lucretzia, realizing he was starting to shake. "Ranger was out there!"

Noin stared at him.

"What?" the man asked blankly.

Rick had heard the commotion, and moved from his little office, blinking at Matty in alarm. "What's wrong? You're white as a sheet."

"Ranger was out there," Matty persisted to Lucretzia, moving to her. "Call Max...call..."

"Ranger?" Rick asked, his eyes hardening. He looked to Lu, then around to the security guard. "Go check the last twenty minutes for strange behavior, please."

The man nodded, frowning as he turned back to his area.

"Are you sure it was Ranger?" Lucretzia asked calmly. "You're completely sure?"

Matty nodded, moving to lean against her as he pulled out his own phone.

"I'm going to call the police," Rick muttered, turning back toward his room.

"If he was here," Lucretzia noted, "they won't find him."

"But it needs marked if he was," Rick returned.

"You know what happened, I take it?" she asked.

"I do," the man agreed, studying her over. "And by the way he was talking to you, you must, too. Who are you?"

"Colonel Lucretzia Noin, unit five, Preventers," the words fell from her tongue as she shook her head. "Why would Ranger be _here?_"

"Max?" Matty muttered, still pressed to her front. "I just saw Ranger...here...yes. He...I don't know, he was walking up the aisle...and I saw him...and...no. They're looking...I know..." he trailed off a moment. "Can you come?"

There wasn't a force that would keep Heero away with that tone in Matty's voice.

Lu rested her arm around his shoulders, pulling out her own phone. Rick disappeared back into his office.

"Hey, Rick?" the black man muttered, moving in after. "There was someone there...he was watching the woman," he indicated Noin.

Lu felt coldness flow down her whole body.

"Hen is checking the parking lot...but he came in after her and...uh...kinda hung back while she was in the aisle."

Lucretzia had to smile at that, a bit embarrassed. She'd figured the cameras were picking up her antics, but Matty's composure hadn't broke in the slightest. She'd figured she hadn't done more than make a few men laugh, but if Ranger was there...why would Ranger be following _her?_

"Yo," Sally muttered, the sound of typing in the background. "What do you want, woman?"

"Mattox Williams just saw the former first lieutenant Deroy Hanagar of the fifty-seven specials, a.k.a. Ranger...here, at this branch of Casto Hardware."

"277," Matty supplied.

"Branch two-seventy-seven," Lu noted.

"Ranger? _There?_ Mattox? That's the Helen-boy, isn't it?"

"Yes," Lucretzia returned. "The one he singled out."

Sally went quiet a long moment.

"The security says he was following me, Poe," Lu muttered quietly. "Williams called the brigadiers already...I imagine one or all of them will be here shortly to verify the visual. Let Une know. I may be compromised."

"Right," Sally returned, her tone business like. "Stay where you are, Colonel. Wait until you have back-up before leaving that room."

"Right," Noin agreed, staring off across the room.

If she was being followed...did that mean they had Zechs? If she was being followed...had he been aware?

She hadn't tried to hide her trail.

"Be careful, Lu," Sally muttered quietly. "All right?"

"I know," Lu returned. "I've got Matty with me."

Sally hmphed at that and hung up.

"Heero will be here in a minute," Matty whispered to her.

"I know," Lucretzia returned. "Don't worry about it, huh? I have my gun."

That made the kid snigger.

"Williams?" Rick called from the room. "Why don't you two come in here?"

- -

Ranger wanted to shout with rage as he stormed into his hotel room. He moved instantly to the bathroom to gather up the few things he had with him.

If the damn woman was at that store visiting that _boy_...that _damned_ boy...

Mattox Williams...strange name for someone with at least half his blood Asian. His hair was black enough for it...and the tilt of his eyes.

Ranger grinned slightly as the image passed through his mind again. He'd seen the woman playing in the aisle, but had figured she'd lost her damn mind or something equally ridiculous. When she'd started talking to the kid behind the counter, she'd been bending over so all he saw was her ass. He supposed he could have lifted his eyes a little more and would have seen the damned boy before, but how was he to know that _that_ was the branch of Casto the stupid former-prisoner worked in? It was LA, there were probably fifty of the damn stores in the city limits.

So that Gundam pilot, Yuy. He'd be on Ranger's trail fast.

It was still amusing to see the fear in the boy's face though. He'd been so terrified that he'd fallen over his own chair. He'd run like a damn jack-rabbit, too. Granted, Ranger had turned and left. He hadn't _seen_ where the boy had headed. It was toward the back of the store like the woman.

It didn't matter. Yuy wouldn't be far away from his precious piece of ass. Jaden had said that even with him there and conscious the pair had kissed.

Didn't it figure? Didn't it _fucking_ figure!?

Ranger snarled to himself as he turned back into the main room.

Where was he supposed to go?

His phone started ringing.

He stared at the number on it, cursing internally. Rab had said the former Gundam pilots were omnipotent. He'd sounded incredibly mocking when he'd said it, but he'd told Ranger a few stories about their finding people to back it up. They could find anyone, given the right amount of time. It didn't matter who, where they were from, where they were going...or who they were working for. No database was safe from the pilots, not even the most highly guarded federal agency could keep their data out of those hands—at least, that was the story.

"Hello?" he asked warily.

"This is Hoss," the man at the other end said. "Is this Ranger?"

"It is," Ranger returned reluctantly.

"Ah...Rab told me to contact you."

"I doubt that," Ranger returned skeptically. They were the right words, but what if he'd been found out?

"You doubt?" the guy asked blankly, then hesitated as he thought. "Show a little faith."

Faith. Still, there was no sure way...

"What do you need?" Ranger demanded.

"I'm to tell you that there are royal guests in the L-2 cluster, and your attendance is wanted," the guy returned. "I suppose it's some sort of conference."

L-2?

Ranger narrowed his eyes at the far wall.

"Ranger?" Hoss asked uncertainly. "Shall we detain your guest?"

"Are you able?" Ranger demanded, remembering his plight. He turned and started cramming clothes back into his bag.

"The security is lax," the man noted almost scathingly. "Evidently they don't value their prince very highly."

"Hm, if you're able, by all means extend him an invitation. I'll be there in a few hours."

"So quickly?" the guy asked blankly.

"I've been compromised at my present situation," Ranger snapped.

"Oh, that's why you doubted," the guy sounded enlightened. "Very well...we'll go extend your...invitation."

- -

Zechs snarled a curse as a man moved happily out of the shadows of a building, tossing a pair of handcuffs in his air languidly.

"Where are you off to so fast, princey?" someone asked from behind.

Milliardo turned his head to look at him, then back at the first...then at the others. They were climbing out of the wood works.

Well...this was a bullshit situation, wasn't it?

He cursed himself for staying put so long. He'd gotten drunk, that was why. Lu hadn't even been bothering to text him since her first few tries. She'd given up on him, hadn't she? And now this?

He reached for his weapon.

"Ah ah ah," a man muttered, moving up on his far side, pressing a long barrel to his side. "Let's not make anymore a scene than we have to."

"Screw you," Zechs spat at him...and reeled back as the man hit him across the face with the barrel. It hurt enough to stop him from moving, and he had a brief moment of stars. A large SUV pulled up beside them languidly, like a mother picking up her son.

"You've been invited to our fortress," the man with the cuffs informed him sweetly. "We'd be honored if you'd give us a few hours of your time before our friend comes and sweeps you off your feet."

Zechs started fighting as one of the men reached for his pockets, patting them down.

His phone...they were after his phone!

"Shut him up," the man with the cuffs suggested. "You don't want the cops finding us, do you?"

The man with the gun swung again...and this time, the stars were blinding...but then, it didn't matter anymore.

- -

E/N: And this will be a double update, because I'll be busy tomorrow.


	6. 05

**Five**

The footage showed Ranger so clearly that Heero was almost amazed Lu herself hadn't seen the man following her. He'd pulled immediately into the parking lot after her, and had bypassed her, seeming to look for another parking spot. It hadn't taken him long to get into the store after that, and then he'd moved right along after her as she went to the aisle behind Matty's station. He hadn't been hiding from any cameras, he hadn't been acting overly suspicious...until he'd hung back and watched Lu.

...though, really, she'd been dancing around and posing. He could imagine himself stopping to watch someone doing something like that.

He hadn't even moved back when she'd gone forward to talk to Matty...though he hadn't seemed to see Matty at all.

After Matty had sent her toward the back of the building, the guy had followed slowly, watching for which door she took and stopping at the edge of the aisle.

He really hadn't seemed to be aware of Matty, because Heero doubted he would have just looked at the boy if he'd been intending to be seen. He'd watched Matty fall, then turned and ran straight back out of the store and directly to his car. He'd turned and disappeared out of the parking lot the same way he'd come...and that was all there was to it.

Poor Matty.

Heero held the boy to his chest. He'd been shaking so badly by the time that Heero'd arrived at the store, that Heero was wondering if he might not need to be seen by a medic.

Rick had brought the two security men into his office not long after. He'd explained how Matty had been on vacation, going to see the music-colony on his own. He'd told them how the shuttle he was on had been captured, and how Max and his friends had gone in with their forgotten military rank to save him and the other hostages—and he'd been singled out. He'd explained that the man on the tapes had scared and hurt Matty...which made the men understand why he'd left clients at his table and ran.

Both of the men, because only two of the store security had gotten involved in the situation...they'd both promised Matty that they'd do whatever they could to keep him safe if the guy showed up again. Good men stepping up to help another.

Heero really liked people...no matter how many times he heard his brethren complaining about them.

His phone screamed an alarm, and a half a second later, so did Matty's. Heero looked around wildly to Duo as the guy grabbed his own screaming phone...and looked at his own.

Zechs' phone had been taken from him.

Heero stared at the alert, then looked around to Lucretzia as she stared between them. He hadn't gotten the chance to put the program on her phone.

"Oh, shit," Duo muttered quietly.

"What is that?" Rick demanded as the police officer who'd been taking the story looked between them in confusion.

"Our phones have pax with a homemade patch," Heero explained quietly, studying the name that was scrolling across his screen with a fingerprint, picture, and full rank of a former military officer. "That patch..." he looked up to Noin again.

"No..." she said, sitting up straighter as her face paled. "No...Heero..."

Heero looked back to the screen.

"He's been grabbed," Duo said quietly, still studying his screen. The alarms had muted as soon as they touched their phones. "Either he's been grabbed, or he's gotten in some stupid trouble."

Lucretzia covered her face with her hands.

"What?" the officer asked.

"Just take your report," Heero ordered, raising his eyes to the man. "Do what you came here to do. I need to call Une."

"Une?"

"General Une," Heero agreed, flipping through his phone menu.

"You have to help, Brigadier," Lucretzia whispered, raising her face to look between them both. The tears had barely started streaming down her cheeks. "You..._have_...to help."

"We know, Lu," Duo reassured her quietly, moving over to pull her into a hug. "We won't leave him to hang."

That was bad word choice, and Heero knew that without thinking about it. It made her sob, and Heero could see Duo hadn't been thinking about his phrasing.

"Brigadier?" the officer asked quietly, looking between them.

"Brigadier General Yuy," Heero agreed, meeting his eyes.

The man stared at him...so did Rick. The two security men were exchanging a look that suggested they hadn't followed the exchange, but Heero could see that the officer recognized his name.

"This situation is strictly confidential," Heero noted, looking between them all. "I know you understand that," he indicated Rick. The man had kept his peace the three weeks he'd known about Matty's situation. "This information is not to be chattered to any other person...I need you to swear it to me."

"But...why?" the black security guard asked quietly. "Why does it matter?"

"Because the last thing we need is media attention," Duo returned. "If the media catches wind of this, it will be blown completely out of proportion."

"Hello?" Une sounded tired.

"Une?" Heero demanded. "This is Yuy. My phone just trilled its lovely little alarm to me that Peacecraft's phone was taken from him."

"Peacecraft?" the second security guard whispered, looking around to the first.

Une stayed quiet long enough for Heero to understand that she hadn't wanted it to happen. Her silence wasn't the confused type that meant that she had no clue. She gathered herself though. "But you said Ranger was there, right? Williams saw him? I thought you said he was following Noin."

"Your lack of surprise is telling me that Lu was put through a damn lot of heartache for nothing," he informed her darkly. "And yes, Ranger was here. He ran, though, and I haven't gotten the chance to look for him since I had to confirm the visual. Get your people on it, Une. I'm sure Barton and Winner are doing their end."

"Winner?" the guy hissed. "Barton?"

"Yuy," the black man returned, his eyes rounding as he looked around to Heero.

"Maxwell," Duo agreed in a mock of their respectful tone. "Chang...Noin...Poe...shit..."

"Don't be pissy," Matty muttered, pushing away from Heero and moving to sit next to Lu. "You don't need to be an ass."

Duo looked away, the turn of his head his consent.

Lucretzia started crying again, and this time, she moved into Matty's arms.

Duo studied her a long moment, then looked tiredly up to Heero.

"Let's go," Heero suggested, closing his phone. He pointed at the four men with them. "Not a word or I'll have you tried as co-conspirators."

"Right," Duo muttered, pulling Lucretzia up gently. "Matty?"

"What?"

"Until we know where Ranger is," Duo retorted, pulling him up a little rougher, "you're staying with us."

"Oh," Matty blinked at him blankly.

"Thank you for your time," Duo muttered to the officer and the security guards.

"I'll get people to cover your shifts," Rick muttered quietly, looking away from Matty.

"Thank you," Matty muttered as the others swept him from the room. "I'm sorry."

The man nodded...but the door swung closed behind them, and they headed for the cars.

- -

Wufei had hacked into the security for V08744, which was where Zechs' phone was. He was downloading their surveillance footage for the area the phone was supposed to be at. Ranger had most definitely seen _him_ when they rescued Matty, so they wouldn't have quite the anonymity as Quatre and Trowa.

Weird to think that Ranger was on earth...how had he even gotten out of the colony?

Wufei frowned at the download. There hadn't been a way for him to get just the time he needed for the feed, he had to get it in two-hour chunks. The files weren't huge, but they were plenty large to be getting on with. According to the progress bar he still had ten minutes to wait.

When Matty had called, Heero had barely gotten out of the shower. Quatre had showered not long before, and they were all starting to talk about lunch. Matty's call had made Heero stop...and then had made everyone stop what they were doing.

Heero had called back with the plate number of the car Ranger'd been driving, and it had taken Trowa all of five minutes to find that it was registered to a rental area in town. The name was fake, but there was no guarantee that the address was. If they couldn't get the company to cooperate with them willingly, they hadn't dumped their rank yet. Dropping the rank took at least a month, and it hadn't even been a full one since they'd gone to save poor Matty.

How had Ranger gotten out of the colony? They had it blockaded.

It made the Chinese man wonder what Rabid thought he was doing. As soon as they'd lost their hostages, they should have folded. There would have been jail time, but it wouldn't have been long. It also wouldn't have been for the full colony, and if it was going to be, there would be better ways than locking them all up. Wouldn't it have been easier to surrender themselves and start working things the legal way? Wufei didn't particularly see their need to be an independent nation. Most of everywhere had joined the Earthsphere Alliance, and it wasn't like the other countries didn't cooperate with them.

What were they hoping to gain?

Granted, Wufei reminded himself, they _had_ taken forty-seven hostages and called them 'prisoners of war'...and no one had ever said Rabid-Marsh had anything _like_ 'common sense.'

If _they_ had Milliardo...Zechs...whatever he called himself anymore...if they had the prince...then he knew his friends were going back to L-5.

He rubbed his forehead, then his eyes.

That meant that he was going back to L-5...again.

So maybe he would try to call those friends...the ones he'd grown up with.

Yes, why not? If they were going, he was waiting until he was sure, then he'd call them and get the initial unpleasantness over with. He'd always thought that any survivors would hate him, and that the memorial would lay out his role in the destruction. He hadn't been sure what to think or even feel since he'd gone to it.

Maybe they wouldn't hate him...maybe...

Wufei shook his head, focusing sharply on the computer.

He could get the flight information.

If they _were_ going...it was going to be tonight.

- -

Ranger strolled cheerfully down the hall, stopping outside the door where the prince was waiting. Hoss had informed him that they'd taken the man's phone and left it on the road where they'd picked him up. He'd also noted that they'd had to knock him out, but he was awake again.

He shoved the door to the room open.

The prince turned his head to look at Ranger a long moment, then closed his eyes again, raising a hand to his temple.

"You think you'll live?" Ranger asked quietly. He'd never seen a person violently knocked out before that Gundam pilot had knocked out Jaden. When Jaden had woken up, he'd had a severe headache.

"I don't know," the man muttered quietly. "I've never had a concussion."

"I don't believe that, lightning count," Ranger retorted, moving to sit on the foot of the bed.

"Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" Ranger protested. "And here I thought your little Gundam friends would have cried to you about me."

"My little Gundam friends?" the man echoed in vague amusement. "So you obviously don't know us."

"Huh?"

"These...little friends...as you put it, haven't talked to _me_ in probably three years."

"Ah," Ranger made an amused noise. "But still, you don't recognize me?"

"Now that I've been given a moment to think, I believe you are the former first lieutenant Deroy Hanger of the fifty-seven specials unit, correct?"

"Hanager," the man corrected levelly.

"Excuse me," Zechs returned, running his hand down his face.

"I'm called Ranger," the man added.

"Be that as it may, Mr. Hanager," Zechs muttered, "I do recall hearing that you broke the code. You caused undo physical injury to a so called prisoner of war," he moved his hand to look at the man. "A bit foolhardy, don't you think?"

"Sort of like this conversation," Ranger noted in a falsely pleasant tone.

"Had you realized that Mattox was the lover of Yuy? Or did you just grab a ship full of hostages?"

"The latter, unfortunately," Ranger returned, shifting back to lean against the footboard. "I can tell you want me to, but it was Rab that called them all prisoners of war. I know they were hostages, so I'm not going to argue."

"Wonderful," Zechs muttered. "I don't suppose there's any way you can get me some sort of pain-killer, is there? My head is throbbing."

"Let me turn on the light and look," Ranger suggested happily, jumping up.

The man cringed and rolled, covering his face.

Ranger laughed wickedly. He'd had some fun with J when the guy'd woken up, but he hadn't been fully aware of the migraine the man'd had when he'd started.

"Fair enough," Zechs muttered. "Can't expect anymore from a wannabe revolutionist who can't be bothered to take the time to submit a request for independence."

"Spare me, Mr. Marquise," Ranger returned, dropping onto the bed again. "I'm much more realistic than Rab, but I'm not in charge...you see the dilemma."

"I see you setting yourself up to get yourself killed," Zechs noted, looking back to the man. "I may not personally be friends with the Gundam pilots, but my girlfriend is. They'll come for me just like they came for Mattox."

"Mattox," Ranger mused. "Who is that?"

Zechs made an amused noise.

"Oh, that _pretty_ boy," Ranger noted, studying the man's expression. "That little boy-child playing at being a man...funny, I've never seen a man cry like that..."

"Then you've never seen a man tortured," Zechs returned, starting to massage his temples.

"Will you make him cry?" Ranger asked sweetly.

"I doubt I'll ever meet the boy, Mr. Hanager," Zechs returned.

"Oh, but I'm fairly certain he's fucked that lovely little girlfriend of yours."

Zechs' hand only hesitated a moment in his massage.

"I'd like to get her in bed," Ranger mused, thinking of the woman. "You should have seen her...I followed her, you know? Was going to grab her so you'd come to us..."

Zechs started pressing harder at his temples, hoping it wasn't visible.

"She went into that hardware store that boy works at...was standing at the end of an aisle posing for him...hot shit, huh? You shoulda seen her bend over the table," he made an appreciative noise. "I bet that little boy can't get enough of her."

It was hard for Milliardo to keep in control of his breathing and movement.

"She was wearing this tank-top," Ranger noted quietly. "Low cut, total cleavage," he made another appreciative noise. "I was standing down the aisle, you know? And those jeans...damn that woman's fine..."

Zechs clenched his jaw.

"I bet that boy got an eyeful, huh?" Ranger purred. "I bet he's damn good in bed, too...that other man...Maxwell, I believe. Can you believe _he_ bought that boy pax? He even paid the extra for the Chronus patch."

Zechs doubted that highly, not with Duo and Heero's programming skills. They wouldn't buy a patch, they'd make one themselves.

"I'd like to be _their_ friend," Ranger purred, grinning slightly. He could see the tautness of Zechs' muscles, even though the man was pretending not to be affected. "I bet the two of them had that boy, huh? And then with your _girlfriend_ there...mm...talk about a night of it...and how long has she been there now?"

Milliardo laughed coldly. "Actually, she got there yesterday afternoon."

"Plenty enough time, huh?"

"I dunno, how many marks were on her throat?"

"I'm sure she's pretending to be a good girl for you...probably taking care that there _are_ no marks."

Milliardo laughed again. "Oh, but if they've had her and are having her...I mean...Yuy can't help but bruise. Maxwell can't help but leave hickies...there's no keeping away that evidence, no matter how hard they try."

Ranger fell silent, annoyed that the rise he'd gotten hadn't been volatile.

Zechs moved his hands to look at the man. "And as for Maxwell and Yuy sharing Mattox...they probably have. That's their business, though. That's always been their business. Truth be told, you thinking about how good they might be in bed is amusing to hear. You kidnapped and tortured Mattox. I'm not sure how you're not dead, really. Yuy's a vindictive fucker...you don't _want_ to be seeing him again."

"He tried to kill me, but I'm better than him," Ranger growled.

Zechs laughed at that notion. "Then how did he get away?" he demanded, still amused. "If you're so much better than him, and the second hand of Rabid..." he laughed even more. "Oh, lord...did Rabid cry? Did he cry when they made off with his captives?" he looked to Ranger, his eyes dancing. "You don't have to tell me, I already know...Rabid can't do _anything_ against those pilots...and he's tried all forms of violence, domination, manipulation, and legal devices he could ever think of...and if you really _are_ his right hand-man," Zechs studied his eyes in amusement, "then he'd have cried to you."

Ranger rose slowly to his feet and moved to the door like he'd walk out, then turned and looked over his shoulder at the still laughing man...and turned on the lights.

Zechs' laughter stopped as he made a pained noise and curled up.

Ranger couldn't find his voice to make any last comment, and if the pain he was seeing was real, the man wouldn't hear him anyway. He moved through the door and slammed it as hard as he could.

"Get Rab on the line," he snarled at Hoss, moving back into the room where the security things were set up. "And make it fast."

Hoss blinked at him in confusion, then turned and started typing away on the keyboard.

"Yes?" Biden, the man who controlled the incoming calls, asked levelly.

"I need to speak with Rab," Ranger snapped.

"Oh, Ranger," the guy grinned at him, then raised something to his mouth and started talking. "It'll be just a minute," the man added, starting to type away. "Anything interesting to report?"

"Why would I tell _you_ that?" Ranger asked sweetly.

"Because I'll hear it anyway," Biden noted, smirking as he looked up. "You know I'll hear it all anyway."

Ranger rolled his eyes, blinking as the scene flicked to show more of the room.

"Ranger!" Rab greeted, bouncing into the area in front of the screen. "Please tell me you're not calling with bad news!"

"Well, sir," Ranger muttered dubiously, looking down. "Uh..."

"What happened?" Rab asked darkly.

"I seem to have gotten ahold of this prince," Rab admitted, raising his eyes to see comprehension spread across the man's face. He smirked slightly. "He's one _fucking_ asshole, too...you want him? I have nothing to do with him now."

The man laughed wickedly, turning his head to look behind himself. "Hey, Biden? Why don't you get me the number of the beautiful Lady Relena?"

"Of course," Biden returned just as happily. "It should only take me a few moments."

- -

"We're heading up," Heero muttered. "We're going to find him. Chang says he got shots of all the men who did it..."

Relena covered her face with her hands, fear warring with anger.

"We're going to drop Lu and Matty off with Une for safe-keeping..."

"Matty?" Relena asked heavily, moving her hands to look at him. "Who is Matty?"

"My...boyfriend," Heero blinked. "Don't you know about any of this?"

"He was one of those passengers, wasn't he?" she asked, thinking back. "The one who got bruised?"

"Yeah," Heero agreed.

"_That_ was why you went up?" she snapped, irritated and willing to focus on the distraction. "You went up to save your piece of ass?"

A young man appeared behind Heero, frowning at the screen. "If I was just a piece of ass," he muttered, "would he really have _bothered?_"

"You all piss me off," Heero snapped, obviously angered by this question. "You all...none of you understand anything! Save my piece of ass...as if I couldn't just get more," his expression was disgusted as the boy looked away.

"Yeah, Heero, yell at me," Relena snapped back. "Instead of using your time to do something constructive...like _find_ my brother, yell and bitch at me because I called you out."

"Called me out?" he echoed, the disgusted expression crossing his face again. "Spare me the bullshit, _highness._"

He only called her that when he was pissed.

"Besides which," he added, darkly, "you honestly think we're all sitting here and doing nothing? Are you really that self-centered? Did I _tell_ you it was Rabid?"

"Who is Rabid?" Relena spat back. It was times like these when she couldn't understand why she'd been chasing him around the planet—granted, that was teenage stupidity with money to burn.

"Colonel Gerrange," he snapped back. "From the forty-first MS unit..."

"Isn't that the man who took you to court the first time?" she muttered.

"He did it a couple times, highness," Heero reassured her.

Relena subsided a long moment, feeling the fear again and meeting his eyes. "You are...you will go after him?" she asked.

He looked about to snarl at her, then composed himself and nodded. "We have a flight planned to head back out to space already. We're looking into the people who grabbed him and the resources available from the black-market. We had our rank reinstated a few weeks ago, so we'll just take it and run with it. We'll get him back, Relena. We need you to let the ES monitor your lines, all right?"

"Why?"

"Because we want to know what you want for Christmas next year," he snapped, his eyes hardening again.

Relena looked away and nodded.

"Verbalizing would be a key factor to an audio monitoring, Miss Darlian."

"Okay fine!" she spat back at him. "Monitor my lines! I don't see what use it would be."

"In a hostage situation," Heero returned darkly, "it's usually family that is seen to first. They won't be calling Lu, because she's not nearly as high profile as the queen of the world."

"Sometimes I hate you," she informed him, wiping the tears that were streaming down her cheeks away. "Do you know that?"

"Sometimes I feel bad about that," he returned, studying her. "The line monitor connected to yours with my call. They'll have the connection set by now. I have to go, we have twenty things to do in ten minutes."

Relena nodded, wiping at her eyes again.

- -

E/N: this is the second chapter added today, because I'll be busy tomorrow.


	7. 06

**Six**

"Miss Darlian?"

"Yes?" Relena asked tiredly, blinking at a man on her vid that she didn't recognize.

"Hello, Miss Darlian," the man returned, moving closer to the screen. "I'm Colonel Gerrange."

Relena's heart felt like it stopped as she stared at the man.

"I know calling you like this, this late in the evening and all, is rude of me, but I was hoping we could get your help with something."

"Oh really?" she suspended all emotion from her tone as Heero's words came back to her. _In a hostage situation, it's the family who's seen to first. They won't be calling Lu, because she's not nearly as high profile as the queen of the world._

"Yes, some of my comrades and I have banded together—and we'd like independence."

She stared at him. "And what can I do about that?"

"Your highness will forgive me, of course," he noted, looking down and making a gesture like tipping a hat. "But your backing would all but win us our cause."

Was he serious?

"I know you are a busy woman," he added quickly. "And I'm sorry to ask this of you so quickly, but we feel fairly desperately..."

"It's hard to have your colony barricaded, I take it?" she asked.

"Oh," he lost some of the cordial manner. "You know about us."

He didn't think she'd heard?

He didn't think she knew he had her brother.

She tilted her head slightly to the side. "I was fairly upset to hear that you took an earth citizen as a hostage."

"And I do surely apologize," the man reassured her quickly. "The...prisoners," he said the word pointedly. "Were well taken care of—unfortunately that earth boy bothered one of my soldiers. We've reprimanded him for his actions and he will no longer be working in a position of such authority."

"Ah," she muttered, considering him. "Pray tell, Colonel," she added. "The prisoners, as you called them...from what war were they gathered?"

His eyes narrowed.

"I'm sorry," she added. "I can't agree to help your..."

"You may not want to finish that sentence, Miss Darlian," he cut her off smoothly.

"You have my brother," she noted, her eyes narrowing.

His own narrowed. "You can't be sure of..."

"Please," she brushed the words away. "I cannot consent to..."

"We _have_ your brother, Princess," the man cut her off pointedly. "That should make you very cooperative...unless you'd like to be an only child."

Relena shifted back in her seat as the man made a gesture.

"I wouldn't ask you to take my word on faith alone," he noted as the screen split to double.

Zechs appeared, sitting with his hands behind his back and a gag in his mouth. He was glaring at the man near him.

"And to assure you that we aren't playing," the colonel muttered, making another gesture.

The man standing with Zechs grabbed his long white-blond hair into his hands.

"Oh, don't!" Relena protested, realizing the man was holding a knife.

"It's just hair, Miss Darlian," the colonel muttered.

The man started to cut, and Zechs' eyes closed tightly. He didn't fight the actions at all.

"Oh...Zechs...I'm sorry!" Relena cried, horrified.

"For his hair?" the colonel seemed confused. "I'd think you'd be more worried about..."

"Different things are important to different people," Relena snapped, glowering at him as the man finished cutting.

He'd cut off the _full_ length of Zechs' hair. The now loose strands fell forward, the ends resting around and above his chin.

"He's such a good boy," the man with Zechs noted, moving forward and showing Relena the hair. "We'll get this to you so you can prove through DNA testing that this is in fact your brother," he gestured back at Zechs.

Relena closed her eyes.

"So, Miss Darlian," the colonel said sweetly. "I'll send you our information," he gestured again.

A transfer screen came up.

"I suggest you accept," the man purred at her. "Because if you don't, you will be an only child."

Relena closed her eyes again, wishing she had backups around her.

Heero had said they'd connected the line monitor.

She hit the accept button, opening her eyes to glower at the man.

"There we go, princess," the colonel purred, then bowed cordially to the screen. "I will call you again tomorrow evening, I trust that will be enough time for you to begin your preparations."

"I have many engagements," she noted darkly. "I may need some time."

"Your brother might be offended," he noted almost clinically. "I know you and he both would give your lives to help the people, but I'd imagine that in this situation, that would be an extreme occurrence. Have a wonderful evening, and please be assured that your brother will be safe and healthy when we return him to you—on the day of our independence."

Relena swallowed hard.

"Oh, and princess?" the man with Zechs moved to the camera. "Please be aware that contacting the authorities will not negate your responsibilities in this matter. I assume you'll put out every effort to free your brother," he smiled sweetly, raising the blade for her to see it. "If you displease us, your brother will bear that mark. Be aware, and on the day of our independence, you'll be invited most cordially to our ball."

The line cut.

- -

"Hello?" Trowa asked blankly, his phone at his ear. He didn't recognize the number and hadn't looked long enough to see the name.

"Rigel?" Timothy asked. "It's Tim...I just stopped by your place to get my jacket, but the doorman said you'd left. Where are you? When are you coming back?"

"On my way to L-5, actually," Trowa noted, shifting down in his seat again. The others were all looking at him curiously. "Something came up."

"L-5, seriously?" the man asked. "You're going to be to work tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Actually, I had to all but quit," Trowa noted. "I have no idea when I'll be back."

"What are you talking about?" the man was confused. "You quit?"

"I...took a leave of absence," Trowa returned. "And I can't tell you about what I'm doing."

"Okay?" he sounded confused.

"I'd need to install a security patch on your phone. You willing to take a personal patch on my word alone?"

The guy considered it a long moment, then guffawed. "You know what? Sure. Why not? We all thought you were full of shit about your roommates and your penthouse, and turned out you were just full of shit about your name...I'll trust you."

Trowa smirked at that. "I wasn't expecting you to agree."

"So?" the guy seemed confused.

"My laptop is stowed and I don't have the transfer on my phone."

That made him go quiet.

Trowa started snickering, then looked pointedly to Heero.

"Are you kidding me?" Heero demanded, rolling his eyes. "Why don't you have the file on your phone already?"

"Because I'm not nearly so paranoid as you are," Trowa retorted.

"Huh?" Timothy asked blankly.

"I'm getting Max to send it," Trowa explained. "Hold on two seconds."

"One two," Timothy retorted.

Trowa grinned, extending his phone so Heero could see the number. The guy considered it, then started typing quickly on his phone.

"Well?" Timothy demanded.

"It'll come through in a second," Trowa retorted. "Just install it."

"What if it has a virus?" the man asked.

"I'll owe you a new phone," Trowa retorted. "You have an AS model, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's a Perona."

"Those are flashy but not that good," Trowa mused. "I was using'em for a while but they kept frying."

"Most people don't _fry_ their phones," Matty muttered, leaning around Heero to grin at him. "Most people do something stupid like drop it."

"Who is that?" Tim asked blankly.

"Matt," Trowa returned. "As long as your phone has the firmware of a typical AS you'll be fine."

"That's pleasant...what the hell patch is it?"

"I call it pan," Heero noted, then looked up and nodded.

"He named it pan," Trowa returned. "And he sent it."

"He named..." Timothy hesitated. "He _made_ it? Are you sure it's..."

"We're programmers, don't worry," Trowa said quickly. "We all have the damn thing on our phones. We'll opt you out of the alerts."

"Oh my god, you're nuts," Timothy breathed. "Rich and eccentric."

"Not my fault you're so poor you can't play," Trowa retorted.

"I play just fine," Timothy retorted. "At least I wouldn't be tempted to _buy_ a slave."

Trowa guffawed at that. "You have any idea how much an effort that'd _take?_"

Wufei started laughing weakly.

"What are you on about?" Duo asked skeptically.

"I don't think we want to know," Quatre returned.

"Tim's just trying to insult me by saying I'd buy a slave," Trowa rolled his eyes.

"That'd be so complicated," Duo muttered. "Not to mention how unfair."

Timothy was still laughing.

"_Anyway,_" Trowa noted.

"I got the install," Tim reassured him. "Just hang on while I...install it..."

"You people are strange," Matty muttered, looking back out the window. "You know that don't you?"

"What?" Heero asked, looking to him in concern.

"Don't answer that, kid," Duo muttered quickly. "Heero, our sense of humor is off to him."

"Oh," Heero frowned more, thinking about that.

Wufei met eyes with the teen and shook his head once. Heero was still socially uncertain, and since Matty obviously had no idea that he was as clueless as he was, it would damage the progress he'd made.

Wufei didn't fully appreciate that Heero could bed any person he decided he wanted to, but hearing that he was weird from his boyfriend would put him in a slump. Something about it was very wrong.

"There, it beeped," Timothy noted. "Do I need to restart?"

"No, we're also hackers so it's fully integrated on install...hold on, our phones should acknowledge it soon."

"You're hackers?" Tim asked dryly.

Trowa snickered.

The man sighed in exasperation.

Heero's phone beeped. "He's in, let me set him up," the Japanese man started clicking through the options.

"So I just let you hack into my phone," Timothy noted. "I see he's messing with my settings...what else will you talk me into?"

Trowa laughed at that.

"He's got the new Perona model," Heero noted with interest. "I'm gonna have to alter it, but it's good enough to be getting on with...you're clear."

"He says I'm clear, but we're sitting in a spaceship surrounded by civilians," Trowa noted almost clinically.

"You told him you'd tell him, so don't be an ass on principal," Duo muttered, his head appearing over the back of the chairs in front—he and Quatre were sitting in the row in front of them with Lucretzia. The fourth seat of their row was empty.

"I like being an ass on principal," Trowa protested.

"And you're good at it," Tim retorted. "Speak, richboy. If you don't I'll get that doorman to sneak me to your apartment and thrash it."

"We're friends with all our doormen," Trowa retorted. "And we have sensors set up around the place so as soon as you did it we'd know."

The guy laughed.

"But fine, I'll be nice and explain to you what's going on here. Watch," he added sidelong to Wufei. "He's some spy from _them_."

"What?" Timothy demanded.

Trowa started laughing, and started to talk.

- -

"Hello?" Heero muttered, looking around. Trowa was still talking quietly to Tim and Matty was leaning against his side, staring out the window. Wufei had drifted into sleep and there hadn't been much noise from Lu, Duo, or Quatre the entire trip.

"Well, you were right," Relena noted, sounding tearful. "You were..."

"What?" Heero asked, focusing. "I was right?"

"I got a call from the good Colonel," she replied...and started to cry.

Heero rubbed his eyes. "I see."

"He said that I have to advocate for them...they cut off his hair!"

"What?" Heero asked blankly.

She cried a few moments more, then gathered herself again. "They're sending me his hair...they cut it all off and are sending it to me."

"That's fucked up," Duo muttered.

"What's she saying?" Lucretzia asked, appearing over the back of her chair.

Heero studied her a long moment and looked down. "She said that Rabid contacted her," he explained. "They want her to advocate their independence."

"Who are you talking to?" Relena asked blankly.

"Lucretzia."

"Why is she with you?"

Heero didn't know much, but he could tell she was trying to focus and get angry about the information.

"Because he's an asshole and didn't tell her what's going on," Heero snapped. "He took off on her so she came to visit us. Shit," he muttered, meeting her eyes. "I need to get you the program."

"What?" Relena asked blankly.

He hadn't been talking to her, but that worked too. "I'm going to send you a program for your cell," Heero explained. "It's a patch I made, so when it comes, just install it. You have an AS model, right?"

"Yeah," Relena agreed quietly. "With pax."

"Good, it uses the pax features like a dream. It'll secure your line, but network you with our phones. Lu? She said that...they cut off his hair. They're sending it to her."

Lucretzia stared at him in horror, then slunk out of sight. Heero could hear Duo moving around, and figured the man was holding her.

"I have to advocate for them," Relena muttered, sounding tearful again.

"You do what you have to do to keep him alive until we get to him," Heero ordered her. "You start whatever paperwork or whatever nonsense they need you to start. We're going to find your brother. There's no way in hell we'll let this shit stand. I'm pissed. I wanted to get into the real world and get a job and fucking _do_ that job. I wanted to be with my friends and never have to worry about my life...or anyone _else's_ ever a-fucking-'gain, but I can't even be a damn bystander. First everyone's buzzing about some dumbass in space, then the fucker goes and grabs my _boyfriend_, then when I get him safe and home and we start working on our damn happy-ever-after, _this_ sort of shit happens! I'm so _tired_ of all the bullshit! It's about damn time Rabid _Marsh_ did something _stupid_ enough that I could take his ass _out_. Fucking sniper fire from above, fucker. Watch your head!"

Relena didn't say anything, and there was a shift to his right.

Heero blinked sidelong, noting that Wufei had woken up and was blinking at him. Trowa had pulled himself out of his conversation enough that he was also blinking at the man.

"You seriously need a prozac," Quatre noted helpfully from where he was sitting.

"You better do it," Relena ordered, evidently not hearing Quatre. "You'd _better._"

Heero glanced to his other side, wondering what Matty thought of his little declaration. The teen, though, was leaning against the window and studying him in a leisurely way that meant he wasn't upset in the slightest.

"Heero?" Relena demanded.

"Sorry," Heero muttered, dropping back in his seat. "I may not be able to pull it off."

"Just take him down, Heero," Relena muttered, sounding wrung-out. "Just..."

"You do your end," he instructed her. "I'll do my end, and you do yours, all right?"

"It's a deal," she sighed. "Thank whatever god that they didn't decide to send one of his fingers."

"Maybe the guy didn't have the guts," Heero suggested. "I'm gonna get my laptop out and check some shit—and I'll send you that file. Here in a second I'll send it to you. Just install it and I'll take care of the rest."

"Right," Relena agreed. "I'll start the bullshit for their independence. If the fuckers had come to me first, I could have swung this _without_ hostages."

Heero laughed coldly and closed the phone.

For all that he'd ranted like a madman and it hadn't bothered his lover, Matty was giving him a confused and upset sort of look.

"What's wrong?" Heero muttered, focusing on the guy properly.

"The laugh?" Duo asked. "That's his bastard-laugh."

"What?" Heero demanded in mild disbelief, focusing on the seat back.

"When you're being a bastard," Duo explained. "Usually it's good for us but not for someone else. Your laugh is _cold_, buddy. We're all used to it, but you haven't had anyone to hate in a while."

Heero wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Its fine," Matty muttered, moving to lean against Heero. "I hadn't ever heard you laugh like that before so it confused me." He kissed his shoulder, studying his eyes. "Okay?"

Heero considered that a long moment, then nodded. He shoved the arm up from between them and shifted where he sat. He was intending to pull the guy onto his lap, which Matty didn't seem to mind.

"You're supposed to be getting your laptop," Wufei reminded him. "And sending her and Lu the pan."

"Huh?" Heero asked blankly, then sighed as he realized it.

"Where's your laptop?" Matty muttered.

"In my shit," Heero gestured with his head toward the bag he had strapped under Duo's seat.

Matty slid off and gestured for him to sit, leaning over and unhooking the thing.

Heero laughed wickedly, considering his boyfriend's ass and whether or not it'd be worth it to comment. The teen glanced over his shoulder, then smirked and swayed slightly where he was standing.

Wufei smacked the guy.

Matty laughed delightedly, smacking back at Wufei as he pulled the bag up and sat on the edge of the chair to pull the laptop out. He passed the machine to Heero before strapping the bag back under, then moved to slide into Heero's lap.

"You're _such_ a bastard," Wufei muttered, rolling his eyes.

"How am I a bastard?" Heero protested. He could hear the note in Wufei's voice that meant that it wasn't the sort of declaration that he expected to have taken seriously.

"Because you have this boyfriend," Wufei retorted, gesturing at Matty. "Someone you can just _hold_. Not to mention the getting laid nightly part."

Heero sniggered wickedly as Matty settled comfortably.

"I'll hold ya," Duo muttered happily, popping up over the back of the seat again to look at the guy. "I could even sleep with you." He grinned wickedly. "You remember that conversation we had back before this shit all started?"

Wufei looked back at him blankly a long moment, then remembered the blowjob conversation. He started laughing wickedly himself and shook his head.

"No?" Duo pouted at him a moment, then grinned. "I'll hold ya'n stuff...if you want. Just keep that in mind."

"Just keep it in mind," Quatre echoed. They could hear that the blond had smacked the guy.

"You know," Trowa muttered into his phone, "they're my imaginary friends. Of _course_ they're special."

Wufei guffawed at that.

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?" Timothy demanded in exasperation.

"It's far _too_ convenient," Trowa reassured the man.

Heero smiled slightly, kissing Matty's temple as he situated them properly so he could work his laptop and phone.

They all fell back into silence before long. Trowa even hung up his phone. There wasn't a lot to say, really. They knew what they were going to have to do, but where they were and how they were traveling meant that there was nothing _for_ them to do.

"Heero?" Matty asked quietly.

"Yeah?" Heero'd thought he'd fallen sleep, so his speaking up had startled the Japanese man.

"Why did this have to happen?" Matty asked quietly. "Why did they have to...to take my flight? Why did they have to take that prince?"

"Why?" Heero muttered, thinking about it. "I don't think there's any real answer to that." He pressed his lips to the guy's head a moment, thinking. "Somehow, they decided that they needed to do this...that they needed their independence. They're warriors, so the idea of using the political process to get their way probably hadn't occurred to them. Personally...as hard as it might be for you, I'd rather have this all happening to _me_ than to someone else." He sighed, squeezing the guy tightly. "I tried being a bystander and got pulled into the fight. It just doesn't _work_. I can't stand by and do nothing. You, though. You can stay on the base with Une, all right?"

"All right," Matty muttered, kissing him lightly. "But only when you're out _doing_ things. I'd rather be with you when I can."

"I'll try," Heero reassured him, falling silent as he considered if Wufei were listening to him or not. "I'm glad I met you," he whispered in the guy's ear. "I really am."

Matty turned to meet his eyes, then smiled slightly and shifted down against him again.

Heero sighed slightly, taking a moment to appreciate that—then flicked on the laptop.

He had some hacking to get on with, and there was no time like the present.

- -

E/N: hehe, thanks for the review Cewo. I'm not sure how long it'll be before I get the third story up and going.


	8. 07

**Seven**

Zechs wanted to _kill_ the man, he _really_ did. Unfortunately, no matter where Zechs looked he couldn't find an opening. He'd been watching for a way out, but aside from the one trip to some random room, he hadn't seen anything—at least not beyond the bathroom. They took him whenever he needed to go and let him shower whenever he asked, but the bathroom was just around the corner.

He had no idea how wide the building was, or how huge a complex. His room had no windows, which meant he couldn't even get his bearings. He was fairly certain he was still on the same L-2 colony, but the people hadn't told him how long he'd been knocked out. He'd be able to tell the furthest they could have gotten away in that time period, so it made sense that they hadn't said, but it was annoying.

And that _man_.

It was the most infuriating thing. Every time Ranger came around they ended up exchanging insults. It was tit for tat, they could usually manage to one-up each other, but it always tended to end with the man throwing the last comment over his shoulder as he left the room. Kinda hard to get a good response in there.

As if cutting off his hair and holding him hostage weren't bad enough.

It was even worse, though, when he'd turn the television on—they'd left him one. Every news channel would come up to Relena, usually in the midst of an impassioned speech. Her advocating for the colony's independence wasn't entirely sensational. It was just one of many stories, but it _was_ the one with the least amount of explanation. There was, however, a gaining background story where someone who knew he'd been grabbed had let it out. A few of the stations had crews and investigators looking for him.

It'd been a week. It wasn't likely that _those_ people would find him, but he did know five assholes he wouldn't mind seeing.

They'd stormed an entire colony for one boy, why weren't they storming this for him?

It meant that they couldn't find him. This also probably meant that he _wasn't_ on the same L-2 colony he'd left.

So, until he found an opening in the security, or until one of the pilots left him a message in those news stations...he was stuck, not knowing where he was or how much longer he'd be there.

And the only person who'd even bother speaking to him was Ranger.

Zechs couldn't wait for _something_ to happen. He was getting bored out of his fucking _mind_.

- -

Wufei dropped back in his seat, rubbing tiredly at his eyes as Matty watched him almost expectantly.

"Well?" Heero demanded, moving into the room with an air of self-possession that made Matty hesitate to go to him. He was in his full uniform, and as was usually the case, he was standing straight as he looked at Wufei expectantly.

"Well what?" Wufei retorted.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked, frowning at Matty. He'd been expecting to hold the guy already.

"I don't think I should jump on you, it'd mess up the uniform," Matty muttered, pursing his lips.

"Uniform?" Heero asked blankly, then looked down at himself. "Oh, yeah, huh?"

"Genius," Wufei grumbled, hitting another button on the laptop. "I can't get the damn thing to clarify."

"You've been doing this all week," Heero protested, moving to pull Matty into his arms.

"It's not that easy and you know it," Matty grumbled, pulling away.

"What's wrong?" Heero protested at him, more. He hadn't relaxed at all.

"You're in full uniform, Brigadier," Wufei retorted. "You got your shiny star showing and everything."

Heero hesitated a moment, looking down to his rank tag, then to his boyfriend.

Matty fidgeted, obviously uncomfortable.

"I could only follow their damn rig for two blocks," Wufei added, starting to rub at his eyes as he leaned forward. "The cameras don't cover the area they hit...being sure of _that_ took me three days, and then checking the flight logs for immediate flights took a day—and it's been a couple days since I started trying for _anything_ more I could get, but it's not _that_ fucking easy."

"Why isn't Duo doing this?" Heero snapped, giving up on greeting his boyfriend. "He's go the patience for this shit," he started for the fridge.

"Actually, it should be _you_ doing this shit, Yuy," Wufei snapped. "Maxwell is the people person and you're the background hacker."

"And _you_ are trying to avoid doing anything outside this room," Heero agreed irritably, slamming the fridge closed. "You're going to have to go out sometime, Chang. And while you're at it, shouldn't you call those friends of yours? You told us you were going to."

"I _will_," Wufei snapped, focusing on him irritably. "Just give me a damn break, okay? It's not as easy for me as it would be for you."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Heero snapped.

Wufei glowered at him, a thousand replies flicking through his mind. All of them boiled down to the notice that Heero wasn't human, and that would hurt him and piss him off.

"God," Heero added, flashing a brief glare at Matty before turning toward the room.

"It's still Heero," Wufei noted quietly to Matty when the door had shut.

"He's not acting like himself," Matty protested, shifting uncomfortably where he sat. "He's all..."

"Powerful," Wufei agreed. "I'd be doing the same thing if I'd been out interacting with people. We _have_ a lot of power here, you know? Our rank seems pretty and flashy when it's being bandied around, but when you get down to it, it's _real_ rank. He's upset right now," he added, gesturing toward the room. "He doesn't understand why you're reacting to him the way you are."

"If he thought about it..."

Wufei sighed, realizing it was time he made sure Matty got it. The lack of emotional understanding Heero really had to deal with was mind-boggling.

"Okay fine," the Chinese man muttered, shifting forward. "I'm going to tell you something that you're not going to understand, not right away. It's very integral to _dealing_ with Heero, and you should probably be very happy that you have to figure it out, because it means he's serious about you. Okay?"

"Okay," Matty muttered, frowning back at him.

"When Heero was...he..." Wufei thought that out. "Heero was trained from a child to be a weapon. Part of that training was...taking away his...we had to _teach_ him emotions."

Matty blinked.

Wufei looked toward the room, listening intently. This wasn't something he wanted Heero to walk in on. "We had to get him to recognize he even _had_ emotions," he said quietly. "And then when we got that started we've had to show him how to deal with them. He's...you've seen it," Wufei met Matty's eyes again. "When you met him and first started hanging out with him you shouldn't have noticed a difference. Now, though...I've _seen_ you realize that something will upset him and interrupt it. You understand at least part of it. It's just...it can be _hard_," he admitted, licking his lips. "It can be damn confusing and it can be embarrassing."

"I have seen, I noticed...he says some stuff," Matty looked toward the door himself. "I told him once that he wasn't human and it _really_ bothered him."

"It does, it always has," Wufei agreed. "He knows about the difference and he hates it. Don't say stuff like that to him."

"I haven't ever again," Matty protested. "I didn't really mean it like that when I said it."

"But he doesn't get that," Wufei agreed, rubbing at his eyes. "I suppose we should have pulled you aside well before now, huh?"

Matty shrugged, looking down.

"So right now," Wufei noted, gesturing to the room. "He doesn't have the slightest clue why you didn't just jump in his arms like you do, and he understands that he won't understand it. That's why he just stormed off."

"So what should I do?"

"I dunno, go fuck him or something," he gestured toward the room.

Matty gave him a look that suggested he didn't appreciate that.

Wufei grinned and gestured again.

The teen rolled his eyes, then headed for the hall and the room Heero'd disappeared in.

"You know what, Wufei?" Matty asked, hesitating at the end of the hall.

"What?" Wufei returned.

"You need to call your friends," Matty retorted.

"I haven't talked to them in years, I don't know that I could _call_ them friends anymore."

"You still need to call them," Matty retorted, starting away again. "You can only avoid doing it for so long. Either quit claiming you will or do it."

Wufei snorted, but the door closed. He focused back on the laptop screen, but decided to give it up. _He_ didn't have the programs, the patience, or the skills to be doing the fine-tuning on the damn pictures.

It really _was_ Heero's specialty. He'd have to make the man do it—and he had to find something useful to do around the base.

If he didn't, he was going to go insane.

- -

"You really believe that?" Quatre asked quietly.

He'd been sitting with a man who'd been part of Rabid's people before and had surrendered. He'd been meeting with the man all week. The man had been closed off and guarded before, but he'd grown comfortable enough with Quatre that he'd allowed himself to slip in some real emotion that had turned into a rant.

The man glared at Quatre before looking away.

"You know," Quatre muttered, shifting back in his seat as he stirred his coffee. "I always knew Rabid had visions of grandeur, but this is a bit ridiculous."

"Excuse me?" Ratdy snapped.

"He's trying to create an empire," Quatre explained, sipping at his drink. "His claim that the old war-criminals won't be tolerated should probably put half his members in shackles."

The guy started to sit up.

"Don't get all riled up," Quatre suggested, gesturing vaguely at him as he stood. "I know that he specifically had the five of us in mind with that, and probably Marquise, too."

"Pretty astute for a sex-toy," the man snapped.

Quatre focused on him instantly, studying his eyes. The guy wasn't _meeting_ his eyes, but he had said it. "Excuse me?"

"Blond fucking bimbo," the man spat, turning away.

"Wow," Quatre muttered, blinking at him in mild amazement. "Say another one."

"What?" the man demanded, meeting his eyes.

"Say...uh," Quatre thought briefly. "Ooh. We aristocrats know what's better for the common people, and you should all just accept that. We rule you for a reason."

The man's entire manner...fluffed, like a pissed kitten.

"You all think you understand so much, but you poor uneducated imbeciles should work my fields and go home. I'm a generous man, I recognize the Sabbath."

"You self-satisfied power-blind pig!" the guy was obviously incensed.

"You can't even insult me right," Quatre muttered in disappointment, starting away again.

"We aren't your slaves!" the guy half-shrieked at him.

"We also don't have fields," Quatre noted, sipping his cup again as he gestured toward the building around them. "We're in a colony, idiot."

"You think you're such hot shit because you have money!" the guy half-shouted, moving to follow him. "You blond haired blue-eyed test-tube baby!"

Quatre's innards twisted.

"You're a worthless frop! You're not even worth the pig-egg your momma used! Fucking colony whore! I bet you fall to your knees every time your betters pass by, begging for them to _take_ you so you're at least good for _something_."

Quatre raised an eyebrow very slightly.

"They keep you around because you're easy!" the guy ranted on, moving even closer to Quatre. "You can't even fight! You pretend like some warrior, but what did you do in the wars? You killed innocent civilians!"

"And what do you _know_ about me?" Quatre returned levelly, turning to face him properly.

"I know you went off your rocker and destroyed an entire colony."

That made his guts twist again, but he couldn't focus on that. He couldn't let the man win when it had all started with him fishing for more blond-jokes.

"Oh, so the fact that I attacked your armies means nothing to you?" Quatre whispered. "The fact that I, on my own, took down base after base..."

"You _killed_ my comrades!" the man shouted at him. "You cut them down with your damn scythes like they meant nothing to anyone! You left me there! You left me behind and uninjured!"

Quatre raised his eyebrows again.

"Why didn't you just kill me?" the man demanded, falling to his knees in front of Quatre as tears started rolling down his cheeks. "You should have just killed me!"

"Is your life really so meaningless?" Quatre demanded, kneeling down in front of the guy to meet his eyes.

"You have no idea the shame I have to bear," the guy whispered back, staring into his eyes.

"You survived when your comrades died," Quatre returned in mild disbelief. "You call that shame?"

"I hate you," the man whispered, glaring into his eyes. "I _hate_ you."

"Then hate me," Quatre returned darkly. "I learned a long time ago that you can't please everyone and if you try you're a fool. You might not want to convince yourself that I'm some useless frop," he added, rising up. "Your supposed shame suggests that I didn't find you _worth_ killing. Probably wouldn't be the best thing for the ego for some blond bit of fluff, some sex toy begging to get boned...some..." he met the man's eyes, "no-brained aristocrat, to have left you alive because you weren't worth killing."

The man flinched away from the last insult—but Quatre had seen the moment of recognition. Marsh tended to call him a no-brained aristocrat when other insults failed him. This man had heard it said and evidently had believed it, with the way he'd flinched.

"Instead you might think that war-rick bastard I may be, but I don't kill unless I have no other choice. You survived on dumb-luck alone. Your companions died on dumb-luck alone. Your machine fell because you weren't meant to be killed. That should mean you have something left to live for. Don't come crying to me because I spared your life," he stopped in the door to the interrogation room again. "Don't look to me for pity just so you can hate me. Your only value to me is as a man from Marsh's camp. If I left you alive or left you for dead doesn't matter to me. It was war, and _I_ had a cause," he studied the man's stricken face a moment longer. "We won that war, you know. The five of us gained the independence for the colonies, we overthrew a tyrannical government and paved the way for peace. Yes, we did it with blood, but it was war. This bullshit with Marsh now...this _isn't_ war. This is a petty fit. This is a spoiled child acting out to get his way—taking that shuttle hostage last month was a child stamping their foot. Taking the prince now is throwing himself on the floor to kick and scream. I'm going to count to three," Quatre added, looking in the direction he knew the earth to be in. "And if he doesn't stop his fit, I'm going to beat him."

The guy blinked at that.

"I've never had patience for spoiled nobodies," Quatre explained, smirking very slightly. "And my patience isn't what it used to be. Be aware, Ratdy, that I provoked you simply to hear you throw out the old blond jokes. Marsh always threw them at me; the sex-toy comments and the like. Think of it as a moment of nostalgia. I'm not returning here again. You have no information that my comrades and I could ever find useful."

"Bastard," the man hissed.

"Oh, and by the way?" Quatre turned to meet his eyes again. "My mother conceived me and died to give me life. If I ever hear you call her any name again, your own mother won't even recognize you."

The man's eyes went hard.

Quatre swept from the room, ignoring the people who'd been observing. He didn't appreciate being watched in a moment of pique, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

"That was interesting," Duo noted, falling into pace with him and passing him back his jacket.

"Not now, Duo," Quatre muttered, pulling the thing on. He'd taken it off so the man in the room wasn't aware of his rank.

"That makes me wonder why he surrendered," Duo mused.

"I would really rather not talk about it," Quatre snapped.

"Poor baby," Duo noted sardonically, then hesitated. "Wait...your mother gave birth to you?"

Quatre stopped, turning to give him a severely level look. It made Duo stop in his tracks.

"What are you two on about?" Trowa demanded, moving from another wing with three soldiers on his heels. They were young men, and upon noticing the pair, they stopped and saluted.

"At ease," Quatre muttered, gesturing them off and meeting Trowa's eyes.

"Winner just got Ratdy into a couple rants," Duo shrugged. "What's with the parade?"

"Parade?" Trowa looked back to the soldiers. "What are you talking about? Une assigned them to me, they're all special-ops hopefuls."

"Are you?" Quatre asked the one nearer him.

"Yes, sir," the guy returned, not meeting eyes.

"Tell me something interesting," Quatre ordered. "Something you've observed."

"Barton manipulates people of equal or greater power, sir."

Trowa snorted.

"We're his friends," Quatre retorted. "We're aware of that. I said tell me something interesting."

The guy hesitated a moment, but only a very brief one. "Brigadier Maxwell finds Cardle attractive, sir."

One of the others ducked his head even further.

"_What?_" Duo demanded in disbelief.

"You looked him over and licked your lips, sir," the man returned.

Duo laughed wickedly, looking to Trowa. "Was I that obvious?"

"I don't even pay attention to who you look at," Trowa retorted as the other, evidently Cardle, ducked his head even more.

"You embarrassed, private?" Quatre demanded. "I always found it easier to get in the good graces of my superiors if they thought I was hot."

Trowa guffawed and smacked at him. "Quit harassing my students."

Cardle looked up to Quatre briefly, then glanced at Duo and looked away again. His cheeks were slightly red.

"You," Quatre muttered, looking back to the man he'd been speaking to. "I don't need your rank or your unit, just your name."

"Raymond," the man returned.

"Okay, Raymond," Quatre noted. "Is Cardle embarrassed or offended?"

Raymond hesitated, looking between the pair of them briefly, then looked down. "I...uh..."

"Don't say 'uh' when you're talking to a brigadier general, soldier," Quatre snapped.

"Sorry, sir," the guy muttered, looking down even more.

"What was that?"

"Quatre, leave the man alone," Duo muttered, shoving at him.

Quatre gave Duo a look.

"He's...embarrassed, sir," Raymond muttered, still not looking up.

"See? Was that so hard?" Quatre beamed at him, then looked to the third man.

"What?" the guy asked, shifting backwards slightly. He caught himself, though, looking down. "Sir."

Quatre sniggered at that, then looked back to Trowa.

"Are ya done yet?" Trowa demanded. "We traced Ranger back to L-2," he glanced at Duo briefly. "We'd like to get on with our investigation."

"That's all the further you got?" Duo heaved a sigh, looking away.

"I think they're still there," Trowa noted, studying his face. "I think they're still on V08744."

"With all due respect," Raymond muttered, "there are too many unconfirmed flights leaving the colony for them all to be accounted for....sir."

Trowa smirked very slightly and shrugged at the others. "Whatever it ends up being, they aren't on earth and they aren't in 27."

"That narrows it down to about twenty colonies," Quatre muttered sarcastically.

"I think it narrows it down to one colony," Trowa retorted, giving the other a look. "And anyway, it's not nearly so depressing as Raymond seems to be demanding."

"Just be careful," Duo muttered. "We don't know how compromised we are."

The three men looked at him sharply.

"They're too true for me to worry about," Quatre dismissed that. "I suppose I could be fooled, but I think I'd feel that."

"Unless someone was lying to them," Duo noted clinically.

"But I'd feel the plotting," Quatre shrugged. "I feel no plotting."

"Are you a space-heart?" Raymond asked, focusing on him instantly, interested.

"Shh, don't tell," Quatre pressed a finger briefly to his lips before looking back to Trowa. "I'm going to go back to the place and see what Wufei's up to. I think Heero might be back, too. I want to find Lu, too."

"Righto," Trowa saluted him briefly—it was the sort of thing they did to each other to acknowledge intentions, but the little soldier-boys weren't aware of that. They all moved instantly to attention and saluted properly.

Quatre grinned at that as Trowa smirked at them.

"Hey, Cardle," Duo muttered as Quatre started off, "why don't you come here?"

"I'm sorry, sir?" the guy asked, looking a little flushed as he almost met Duo's eyes.

"Knock it off," Trowa muttered, smacking Duo. "He's just teasing you," he added. "Unless you wanna get laid by him just come on." He turned and started away as Duo smirked.

"And...if he wants to?" the third man asked curiously, looking Trowa over.

"Then stay and have a word with the good officer in uniform," he gave Duo a pointed look—then turned and started away.

The third guy grinned at Duo, then turned to go.

Quatre did, however, notice that Cardle hesitated the briefest of moments before following Trowa away.

"That was amusing," Duo noted, tilting his head as he watched them walk off.

"You're in uniform," Quatre smacked him in the arm. "Come with me back to the rooms..."

"I like the sound of that," Duo noted happily, following instantly. "What will we do in the rooms?"

Quatre turned and leveled him with a look.

Duo laughed delightedly, but held his tongue—and Quatre didn't see any particular point in pursuing conversation.


	9. 08

**Eight**

...It had started to rain.

Far be it for Duo to judge the local timing, but he couldn't help but think someone had been just waiting for an officer to exit the building to hit the rain button.

He didn't like the situation at all. On the one hand, Heero'd been ordering people around like a pro, coordinating the search groups and the forensic teams and all that—the ones on L-2, but on the other, Wufei hadn't been meant for the nitty-gritty detailed work. Quatre'd been strung-out with talking to the man who'd surrendered, but now that he'd given up on that he got the fun job of going through the personnel. He was starting with the most important ones to see if any of them were lying.

Wufei was going to have the rest of the day off, and hopefully with Matty's help, he'd get the balls to call his old friends. Trowa was running around tracking Ranger as far as he could manage.

Duo himself was the lucky one who got to run to Une to pick up the remnants of Marquise's cell phone, and pick up Lu on the way. She wasn't dealing very well with the minimal duties she'd been given. She wanted to dive right into the midst of it all and get herself killed or something.

Relena had called the vid in their room crying her eyes out a few days before, raising a lock of shorn hair to the camera without speaking. Zechs' hair had been well down his back, but now it mostly seemed un-attached to his body.

Duo ran a hand through his own shortened hair, fluffing it slightly. He was mostly used to the length. It was strange to deal with the slight difference in his balance. He hadn't thought the braid would have given him that much of an issue...but a lot of his moves had added momentum behind them to make the thing fly around properly. He'd had to figure out how to do it without the excess of movement.

At least the change wouldn't be that drastic for Zechs.

Duo slid into the car he was using on base and started the engine as the rain poured along the windshield.

This had gone on too long already. When he got back, _he_ was going to stop playing and jumping through the bureaucratic hoops. If he got court marshaled again, so be it. There wasn't a thing in heaven or hell that could keep him penned in when he wanted to be away.

It was time to stop playing.

- -

"You want to know why she's not making any headway?" Zechs purred sweetly to Ranger. The man had entered the room to see him watching the news station again. Relena was talking with her passion about their colony.

"Not your opinions, no," Ranger retorted. He'd started pacing after entering.

"Mm," Zechs muttered, looking to the ceiling. "The thing about it is that no one cares what she's saying. She randomly started on about you lot, as far as the public is concerned. She'll get some people in her corner after a while, but by your mood, I can tell this isn't going nearly fast enough."

Ranger grumbled incoherently at him.

"It's not sensational enough," Zechs added thoughtfully. "The real story is background tabloid fodder..."

"I thought she'd run and tell everyone," Ranger snapped at him. "I thought that as soon as she knew we had you she'd go run her mouth."

"You did, really?" Zechs gave him a bemused sort of look. "What good would that do her? She'd have twenty governments begging to let them help and it would be offensive for her to refuse. On top of that she'd have the Preventer's breathing down her neck because if you can't tell, they're keeping your bullshit quiet in the background. They want as much done before they have to come out as possible."

Ranger glowered at him.

"You can't tell me she's not fighting the fight," Zechs added, indicating the television and his sister, who was listening to someone asking a question. "She's doing everything she can."

"We should come out ourselves and tell everyone she's working for us," Ranger grumbled, starting to pace again.

"But that's where the tabloid fodder comes in," Zechs returned with a grin. "The people of the colonies and earth trust my sister. She does everything she can to get them what they need. She does her damnedest to do right by them, and in the end they'd do right by her."

The man glared more at him.

Zechs sighed, looking back to the screen. _He_ could see that she was about to cry, but she wasn't that obvious, especially in public. No one else would get it. She really was putting out her all for him, and he was really starting to get annoyed with the five former Gundam pilots.

Why hadn't they found him, and if they had, why hadn't they let him know? They knew he wasn't stupid. They knew that if they gave him the heads-up he'd be ready the moment they were there for him—and he wouldn't let the people holding him know. So why had so much time passed?

Were they not coming after him?

The idea made him go cold. If they hadn't connected that he'd left Zia because of Une's words, then they might still believe he was pulling the stupid stunts he had before. If they believed that, then his being stupid and getting caught would be his own problem, wouldn't it?

"What's the matter?" Ranger muttered, moving to sit next to him on the couch.

"I just had an unsettling thought," Zechs returned.

"Oh?"

"Why would I tell you something that bothers me?" the prince met his eyes curiously.

Ranger rolled his own, dropping back to stare at the screen as the princess continued talking. "You get any messages?"

"Huh?" Zechs asked blankly, taken aback.

"Messages," Ranger repeated. "After we reviewed the interview tape we'd done with Pan and the hostages, we realized that the stupid Williams boy was mouthing to someone. I thought he was doing something, with the way he wasn't texting back to whoever was messaging him—but at that point, Rab hadn't realized how fickle the boy was."

"Oh, you mean him telling us it was Rab?" Zechs grinned slightly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Ranger indicated the television screen. "It's purely my good graces that gives you this access you know."

"Do you want another go at Yuy?" Zechs asked sweetly. "Could you possibly be hoping that he comes in on his stallion and saves me?" he snickered slightly. "How funny. My darling sister and Yuy aren't nearly so cordial as they once were...and personally, Maxwell drives me to irritation. I don't mind Winner, Chang, or Barton...or Yuy, really."

"Your sister got a call from Yuy before we contacted her."

"Chances are they knew you grabbed me as soon as you took my phone," Zechs noted, raising an eyebrow. "They all hack, and they love the AS model phones...I think they'd marry pax if it were an option. Last time I'd talked to Yuy, he had a good thirty patches worked up. Some of them he can install remotely."

"And then there's the Chronus patch," Ranger agreed. "Which he paid for to put on that boy's phone."

"I doubt that," Zechs argued. "Chronus is buggy. Yuy put something on my phone once that gave it remote activation—but that's not all. When he turned it on, he had full control of the system. He could mute it and dim the backlight. There's some other shit it can do, too, but..."

"Like accessing the military index of past and present soldiers?" Ranger asked quietly.

"Oh, probably," Zechs agreed with amusement, meeting the man's eyes. "It could also probably tell if you were horny or hungry. Hell, I wouldn't be too amazed if he'd figured out how to activate the acupuncture spots that could _make_ you horny or hungry."

"Fucking gods," Ranger spat, looking away irritably.

"They'd like to think so, but if you don't have an AS model phone, they've got nothing on you."

Ranger sighed, pulling his own phone out.

He wasn't really that stupid was he? He didn't really carry his own phone with him? Or was it, maybe, an extra he'd picked up somewhere? A non-contract that didn't even need an activation name.

"I'm bored out of my fucking mind," Zechs noted, moving to pull his legs on the couch with him. "Can you get me a puzzle book or something?"

"A puzzle book?" Ranger snapped.

"Or do you have to be careful so I don't paper-cut-slit your wrists with it?"

"I wouldn't put it past you to pull it off," Ranger retorted. "Or gauge my eye out with the pen or pencil we give."

Zechs sniggered at that. "Good one."

"I'll see what we can get," the man added, tucking the phone away. "I do trust you won't try to kill me with it. You still can't get out of this building with just me down—and I doubt you'd be able to leave the colony, even if you managed."

"We on 27, then?" Zechs retorted. "I doubt you could run the blockade."

Ranger smirked at him, rising to his feet. "Don't you wish? You don't know how long you were knocked out for, so how do you know we aren't back on earth?"

"Not many earth buildings have rooms with no windows, let alone sectors," Zechs reassured him. "Though in all honesty, we could be there. I think, though, that the damage being knocked out enough to stay out that long would be telling. I had a mild to severe concussion, but in order to keep me out that long..."

"Maybe we sedated you," Ranger noted with a slight smirk. "Mild concussion, a bit of sedative...a long flight..."

"My body is immune to many, many, things, Mr. Hanager. I've also been exposed to many more. I'd have recognized the after effects of a sedative."

"Ooh, smart man, huh?" Ranger smirked as he hung in the door. "Then tell me, if you're so damn smart—why are you here?"

"Maybe," Zechs purred, "I just wanted to let my comrades know about a weak-spot in their defenses."

Ranger's eyes narrowed sharply.

"Maybe you kidnapped yourself a mole," Zechs flashed him a sweet smile. "I doubt you scanned me—who's to say there isn't a tracking device below my skin somewhere?"

"Maybe we should look into that," Ranger purred darkly at him, moving out the door. "Maybe there are some other probing things we should do while we're at it." He closed the door.

Zechs made a face, realizing that the jibe had gone too far.

He was in for a very unpleasant evening.

- -

Did she have to cry so much?

Duo sighed, studying the ceiling. Lu had been eager enough to help decipher the license plate, but by the time he'd brought her back, Heero had been so entrenched in the job that he hadn't budged. They'd taken a turn to find Trowa, but the man was in a high-ops room that Lu didn't have clearance to be in, and it would take another hour for Duo to get her cleared to enter. They'd gone back to the rooms he and the others were sharing to find that Heero had disappeared, as well as Wufei and Matty.

She'd folded into his arms, and she felt far too weak. She was so utterly terrified and horrified that she was far from her old self. He appreciated, on some levels, that she was comfortable enough to let down all her guards with him. On several levels, however, he really did not appreciate it. He knew it fell somewhere in the area of unrequited love, but he was okay with that. He just wished that she'd cry in someone else's arms once in a while.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, pushing away from him finally. "I'm an absolute mess..."

"Don't worry about it," he reassured her, wiping at her tears.

"I got tears all over your uniform!" she protested with a slight laugh that ended in more of a sob.

"As long as it's not boogers," he reassured her, looking down and wiping at the wet spots.

She laughed at that, wiping at her face.

"Go clean yourself up," he suggested, indicating the bathroom. "Then we can figure out where Heero's run off to."

She nodded her head and disappeared. He stayed where he was a long moment, then pushed away from the wall and moved toward the couch. She appeared a moment later, wiping her nose with some toilet paper. She had her phone to her ear.

"What's up?" he asked curiously.

"Sally needs me," she returned, stopping to hug him briefly, then kiss his forehead. "I'll come back over later."

He nodded his agreement, then watched as she scampered away.

Well, that was one way of dealing with it, wasn't it?

Duo ran his hands through his hair as he sat there a long moment, then rose to his feet. He moved quietly down the hall, thinking that laying down sounded like a plan, then hesitated as he heard something. The door to Quatre's room was cracked very slightly, and the sound was from in there.

He shoved the door open.

"Duo!"

Quatre had jumped backwards and was messing with the fly of his pants.

"Oh, I thought someone snuck in," Duo explained. "I thought you were off running...what are you doing?"

Quatre's cheeks were red as he looked away, sitting down on the bed.

"Were you..." the American almost asked, but Quatre had never been comfortable talking about anything personal. The idea he'd been caught either about to, or actually masturbating would horrify him to no end. "Uh...sorry," Duo started to back away.

"It's not your fault," Quatre reassured him, looking pointedly to the floor. He had his arms crossed and was leaning forward where he sat. He raised his eyes to look at the far wall. "I hate going out and reading people."

"Uh..." Duo wasn't sure he wanted to have the full conversation when Quatre hadn't actually gotten his pants buttoned.

"It was even a guy he was lusting after!" Quatre added in something like irritability, covering his face with his hands.

Duo hesitated. He understood the want of ranting, but not why it couldn't be done in say...five minutes. Unless...

"You want me to listen to you rant or give you a helping hand?"

Quatre's cheeks flared again and he re-covered his eyes.

Duo grinned slightly, realizing that if Quatre was in the mode to...read...people, he'd probably feel the amusement.

"You're an asshole," the blond noted.

"Come on, you know everyone's busy," Duo noted, moving through the door and closing it behind himself. "It'd take...five, maybe ten minutes, tops."

"I love how you assume I'll have no problems with your notion and go along with you."

"I intend to do it," Duo shrugged, sitting on the bed next to him. "You'll let me in the end—and then we can both get on with our day. Win-win."

"I fail to see any benefit to you in this proposition," Quatre noted, lowering his hands and crossing his arms back over his legs. He wasn't looking at Duo.

"The joy of helping a friend?" Duo offered sweetly.

"Not even _**I**_ am that naive, Duo," Quatre retorted, meeting his eyes briefly.

"A moment of...shall we say weakness?" Duo returned sweetly. "A show of trust and faith—a bond, if you will."

"And cutting through all the crap," Quatre cut him off, meeting his eyes a few moments longer than before. "You're basically saying it'll butter me up for more fun later."

"Basically," Duo agreed easily. "In like...six months or a year. In time," he added when he got the blue glance again. "With plenty of time to opt out."

"Why am I actually listening to you?" Quatre grumped, rubbing at his face, then moving to shove Duo away. "Get out of here..."

Duo sniggered, leaning in quickly and meeting Quatre's eyes for the briefest of moments before biting very gently at his jaw-line.

Quatre hesitated.

"Plenty of time to opt out," Duo reassured him in amusement, wondering what was going through the guy's head.

"You're evil and wicked and..." Quatre swallowed when Duo sucked very lightly at the soft skin of his throat. "And...do that again."

Duo smirked and leaned forward. He hadn't thought Quatre an easy mark—but then again, if the blond hadn't been exposed to whatever lust he'd been exposed to, he wouldn't have _been_ an easy mark. Duo got the impression that reading people the way Quatre did increased the potency of any given emotion.

The American had a rather simple mental list that was made of things he could do, should do, shouldn't do—or shouldn't even consider. He'd long ago tossed his four friends and Lu into that category. Heero'd jumped out of that pen all on his own a very long time ago. Half-seducing Quatre should probably have been at the top of that list, but Duo had a problem.

He'd never been very good at resisting temptation.

He couldn't wait for Quatre to come back to his senses and beat the shit out of him—that would line this all neatly up.

Until then, he was going to have a little fun.

- -

"So you're telling me they left the colony?" Heero demanded of Trowa as they moved into the apartment. "How the hell did they leave the colony?"

"You were wrong?" Duo asked curiously, sitting up.

"I was wrong," Trowa agreed, glancing briefly at Quatre. The blond was sitting a little way away from Duo on the couch and looked half-asleep. "What were you two doing?"

"He's been sitting here half-dozing for a half hour," Duo returned with a shrug. "I just thought I'd try my luck."

Heero laughed wickedly as Quatre punched Duo's arm.

"You interrupted, though," the American noted, warding off the blows and watching Quatre warily. "Your news is more interesting."

"More interesting than getting laid?" Trowa asked sweetly, glancing at Quatre.

"Excuse me?" Quatre retorted, sitting up.

"Ooh, rich-boy offended!" Duo sniggered and darted down the couch as he was smacked at again. "Come on, let's go check your sources."

"Check my sources!" Heero chirped happily, bouncing.

The American smirked at Heero appreciatively, then turned his head. "Get your coat?" he asked Quatre, who hadn't moved. "Let's pretend we care about Zechs?"

Quatre snorted and pulled himself from where he was sitting, disappearing down the hall.

Trowa and Heero gave Duo curious looks.

"He was out talking to people," Duo shrugged. "He was here when I got back and...a little disturbed."

"Huh," Trowa shook it off.

"Where...is...Matty?" Heero muttered, actually looking around. "He's not in here, and Wufei."

"I'm not sure what they got up to," Duo returned. "After you took over the license plate thing, I left."

"Oh yeah, they went to lunch," Heero remembered, pulling out his phone. "Come on," he added, glancing up at Quatre when he re-emerged into the living room.

It didn't take them long to be headed to the same restricted area Duo had been trying to bring Lu into. Heero—who had called his lover and been chatting briefly—lowered his phone, looking around to the others.

"What?" Duo asked, reading the almost-alarm in the guy's eyes.

"Wufei is about to call one of his friends," Heero explained. "And they want to meet up with him."

"So what was that look?" Duo asked, gesturing at his friend.

"Matty said he'd started crying when he was dialing."

Oh.

"Where are they?" Duo muttered, turning away.

"They were at a little café on thirty-fourth," Heero returned as Duo started off. "They're at a park now."

"Right," Quatre muttered, turning to follow Duo. "We'll be back."

"You're going?" Trowa asked blankly.

"We'll be back," Quatre persisted, and followed the other down the hall.

- -

Wufei had pulled the little sheet of numbers out, and was starting to dial the first set when Matty's phone rang. The guy answered promptly, and all the fear and exasperation he'd been feeling to that point compounded when he heard Heero asking what they were doing.

It was _scary_.

Wufei ended his call, feeling a sob tearing at him. He was terrified that Jinli might explode at him. If not for the end of the colony itself, then for how many years had passed since the tragedy had occurred.

"Hey," Matty muttered, moving to hold him instantly. "Hey, now..."

"Get off," Wufei muttered, rubbing irritably at his eyes as he sat back.

"You don't have to be an ass," Matty retorted, mildly offended.

"I'm not someone who needs held," Wufei retorted, glad they were in the park instead of the café.

"Spare me that," Matty retorted.

They bickered again, casually. Wufei made comments about how needy gay men were and Matty happily argued that he didn't know if he was just gay, because woman were damn pretty. That leg of conversation didn't get them far, though—even if it did give Wufei time to re-gather himself.

"Ahoy there."

Wufei turned at Duo's voice, blinking between he and Quatre.

"What's up?" Matty asked blankly.

"You guys okay?" Quatre asked, moving around Duo to look nervously at the Chinese man.

"You're a little tattle tale," Wufei informed Matty pointedly.

"I just said what was going on," Matty retorted, giving him something of an offended look.

"I'm okay," Wufei noted, focusing specifically on Quatre.

"Then call him," Matty ordered, indicating the top-most number. "Call whoever it was that just made you cry."

Wufei focused on him in alarm, grateful at Duo's reassuring hand on his shoulder. He raised the phone again, then closed his eyes.

"Look at it this way," Duo suggested quietly in French. "You can't talk long. We've found that they left 44."

"How did they leave it?" Wufei demanded, starting to straighten. "Where did they go?"

"Trowa's working on that now," Duo returned. "Call."

Wufei came up short, looking back to the paper. He wanted to say that his business could wait, but he could tell that his friends weren't having it. He managed to dial the full number then, but Duo shifted out of his personal space and his resolve broke.

He closed the phone.

"Wufei," Duo admonished.

"It'll be okay," Matty said quietly. "You'll see...just call again, tell him you dropped the phone or something."

Wufei fidgeted uncomfortably, but Duo's hand moved back to his shoulder in that silent reassurance. He hit redial.

It rang a whole of four times before Wufei panicked and all but tossed the phone as he closed it.

Matty started rubbing his forehead. "I could have gotten him to do it if you hadn't shown up."

"He's dialed," Duo retorted. "That's something."

"Right," Matty agreed sarcastically.

Wufei's phone started ringing.

They all stared at it in disbelief a long moment before Duo grabbed it and thrust it at Wufei.

"I can't!" Wufei protested, moving away from him backwards with wild eyes.

"Answer your phone!" Duo persisted.

"I can't!" Wufei squeaked.

Duo gave him an irritated sort of look and opened it. "Hello?"

"Hey, I just got a couple calls from this number," a male returned curiously.

"Oh, yeah, hold on just a second." He offered the phone to Wufei.

Wufei gave him a pleading look, but he could tell Duo wouldn't give over.

He took the phone carefully and placed it against his ear. "Hello?"

"I just got some calls from this number?" the male voice asked curiously.

Wufei swallowed, closing his eyes. "Is this Wong Jinli?"

"Yes, it is, but I haven't used that name in...years..." he trailed off into silence before. "Wufei? Chang Wufei?"

Wufei swallowed, starting to nod. "Yeah."

There was a long silence.

"I...uh...I'm on L-5. I'm...over on 25...A02225."

"You are?" the guy asked quietly. "I thought you lived on earth."

"I'm...we're doing some stuff right now," Wufei explained quietly. "We'll be moving around the colonies for a few weeks."

The silence came again.

Wufei closed his eyes. He shouldn't have called, he should have just gone on with his work like he'd been trying.

"I'm on...25," Jinli noted hesitantly. "I...I live here."

"I thought you did," Wufei agreed, swallowing.

"Are you busy right now?" the guy was obviously unsure if he was wanted—just like Wufei was unsure if _he_ was.

"I have some free time," Wufei said in a rush. "At least an hour. I'm at the park off of thirty-fourth."

"Really?" the guy perked up. "I'm like...five minutes away. You want me to come?"

"I was hoping you would," Wufei agreed quietly.

"Uh...okay, hold on, let me get my shoes on."

"I'll see you in a few then," Wufei said, swallowing slightly.

"Yeah, in a few," the guy agreed.

Wufei closed the phone and leaned forward, pressing his face into his legs.

"I told you," Matty noted pointedly to him, rising. "Come on, Quatre, Duo. Let's go."

"But," Quatre started to protest.

"We can go in the car you two took to come," Matty noted pointedly to him. "He can bring that car back."

"Just know that within the next few hours you should come back," Duo muttered, shoving at Quatre. "We'll text you if we get anymore information before then."

Wufei nodded, sitting up to watch them go.

Really, he wasn't entirely sure he appreciated all of them leaving him like that—but at the same time, he didn't want to see his old friend with the new ones watching. Especially Quatre. He loved Quatre to death, relied on him completely—but he didn't need to experience Wufei's fear.

He'd have to thank Matty later.


	10. 09

**Nine**

"Why is it raining?" Duo muttered tiredly to Quatre. It made the blond jump hard and shift very slightly away from him. It only lasted a moment, though, before Quatre relaxed back to his stance. He'd been standing, looking out the window.

He wasn't entirely sure what he thought about feeling Duo's body heat along his body, but he had to admit it wasn't all that unpleasant.

"I'm more worried about Wufei," Quatre noted quietly. "They were at the park."

"That's easily remedied," Duo reminded him.

"Can you not make suggestions at me?" Quatre half-breathed, meeting his eyes sidelong. "It's bad enough I let you talk me into it..."

"Oh, calm down," Duo retorted, pushing away and looking to the others. "For one, if you hadn't wanted me to do it you would have let me make good my escape, and for another, I wasn't making suggestions."

"What are you two muttering about?" Heero asked, glancing up at them briefly.

"Nothing," Duo returned, pushing away. "Just hoping Wufei and his friend got out of the rain. They were in the park."

"That's an easy situation to remedy," Heero noted, shrugging.

Duo shot Quatre a pointed look.

"Shut-up," Quatre returned.

Heero gave them both looks.

Duo smiled sweetly, moving to sit next to Heero at the table again.

"I think you're jumping," Trowa snapped at Raymond. It was a rare occasion when he and Cardle—the guy Duo'd been checking out before—weren't with him. The other guy, and a few more, came and went, but the two of them were with him almost constantly. Duo had a sneaking suspicions that Trowa didn't even go pee without them. He wasn't planning to _say_ that, though. Trowa'd probably do something painful to him if he actually took the effort.

"It's easier to jump than to get mired down in the muck," Raymond snapped back. He fell silent very fast, though, his eyes raising to the others in the room to judge their reactions.

"Is he really that manipulative?" Duo asked with interest, blinking at the pair.

"Huh?" Trowa asked, looking up at him blankly. "What are you on about?"

"Raymond," Duo explained, jerking his head to indicate the soldier. "He totally just got annoyed and snapped at you, then looked to us to see how we'd react."

Raymond lowered his head.

"He his, huh?" Trowa muttered, then made a face and brushed it away. "Why do you think that they're _here?_"

Raymond licked his lips briefly and looked around again. "Where is the least likely place for him to turn up?" he muttered quietly.

"So just because we're not exactly expecting them here, you're assuming they are?" Trowa demanded.

"_Someone_ is helping them on this colony. That's how Ranger made it through the blockade and disappeared."

"Hanager," Heero spat the name to the side.

"I just had an excellent idea!" Matty proclaimed, bouncing from the hall.

"Oh?" Heero asked, smiling up at him.

"Yes," Matty agreed, bouncing over to drop happily into his lap. He leaned forward for something of a sweet kiss before pulling back enough to meet eyes. "Let's not talk about him."

"Who's talking?" Heero returned, leaning forward for another kiss.

Duo rolled his eyes slightly, then noted that Raymond and Cardle were both staring at Heero and Matty in disbelief.

"You're putting on a show for the children," Quatre noted pointedly.

Heero pulled back quickly as Matty snickered.

"You ever watch one of those porns about soldiers and officers?" Duo asked the room in general. He was resting his head against his hand, and that elbow was propped against the table.

"_What?_" Quatre demanded in disbelief.

Duo started laughing wickedly, sitting up.

"You _watch_ that sort of thing?" Quatre demanded, seeming offended. His cheeks were slightly pink, but aside from his ruler-straight back, he wasn't showing other signs of embarrassment or dismay.

"I also watch the ones about the cheerleaders, and the ones about the next door neighbor girl who's evidently wanted to screw you since she was ten."

Cardle started laughing and just as obviously trying not to as he covered his face with his hands.

"See? He knows what I'm talking about," Duo added happily as Raymond tried not to grin and Trowa rolled his eyes.

"You like the ones with the officers and soldiers?" Matty asked curiously, turning around where he sat so he could lean against Heero's chest. "You the officer or the soldier in those?"

Duo licked his lips with a smirk. "Depends on who's the blond or the brunette."

Quatre stayed froze that moment longer than made sense to anyone else, but Duo spared embarrassing him anymore by ignoring him.

Matty snickered wickedly, leaning forward to lean his own elbow against the table and prop his chin against it. "You like to give or take?"

"I'm not horribly picky," Duo returned. He jerked his head toward the hall. "Come on, we can go explore options."

"So you can steal him?" Heero cut that off. "I don't think so."

"Oh, you're not coming?" Duo asked sweetly.

Heero started laughing wickedly.

Matty realized that Duo was at least partially serious and sat up to blink at him.

Duo smiled sweetly at that, then looked across the room at his friend's entourage. "I'd extend the offer, but I am still in uniform and you are still on duty. It wouldn't end very well if the courts caught wind of it."

Raymond flashed him a truly appreciative grin, though he didn't speak. Cardle wasn't looking at him at all.

"You really need to go away," Trowa informed Duo seriously. "You keep work from getting done, and I'm half wondering if you do it on purpose."

"You're not still working?" Duo demanded, giving him an offended sort of look. "You're such a damn slacker."

Heero sniggered.

The door swung open to reveal...a Chinese man that Duo nearly greeted as Wufei. The man blinked around at all of them a moment before looking back over his shoulder, and in that moment, Duo realized he could hear Wufei in the hall.

"Hello, gorgeous," Heero growled in Matty's ear. "If he wants to wander off down the hall, would you let me watch?"

Matty elbowed Heero in the chest, turning to give him a look—they were both amused, though. Their expressions and reactions were those of amusement.

"Hello?" Duo asked curiously. He'd have asked if Matty would let _him_ watch, but the younger man didn't know how to deal with his teasing offers yet.

"Hi," the guy smiled slightly at him, looking him over. "You're Duo."

"I am," Duo agreed. "You're a hot Chinese guy."

"Are you sure it's Chinese?" the man retorted. "Not Korean or Thai?"

"Fairly," Duo reassured him.

"I'm straight, anyway," he added, glancing at Matty and Heero briefly. His eyes moved on to Quatre, then across the room to Trowa and his peons.

"You're still hot?" Matty offered. "I can never tell when that sort of compliment is appreciated," he admitted to Heero over his shoulder.

The guy grinned at him.

"Hey guys," Wufei greeted them all, moving around the other. They could all see the rings under his eyes that suggested he'd been crying—but they could also all tell he'd regained his good humor. "I'll tell you what," he added, looking between Heero and Duo. "If you slip me the cash, I'll slip him the sleeping pill."

The man guffawed, turning on Wufei to hit him. It was the sort of mature response one expected from teenagers, and the fact that Wufei instantly started half-giggling and tussling suggested that this wasn't the first instance of suggestive maturity they'd experienced.

"So why don't I show him the view from my room," Duo quipped happily, rising to his feet. "Wufei can bring him something to drink."

"Knock it off!" Quatre half-hissed, pulling Duo back before he could take a step. He wasn't meeting eyes, and his cheeks were flushed again. He looked embarrassed, but his grip did not falter.

"I'm just playing," Duo protested, blinking down at him.

Quatre looked away again.

Duo wondered if he'd started something he hadn't expected with "helping" the other male out earlier in the day. He'd certainly thought Quatre would get pissed at him after having time to think—and that hadn't happened yet, and he'd been trying to steer well-clear of the blond so he'd have the chance.

"I knew you were psychotic," the new man informed Duo happily, bouncing into the room more. He stopped and pointed at Trowa. "Trowa the acrobat."

Trowa raised an eyebrow at that.

"And you'd be Quatre Winner," the guy added, looking Quatre over with interest. "Which leaves you two," he added, focusing on Matty and Heero. "You're the Williams boy—the face that launched a thousand ships?"

Matty grinned at him and rolled his eyes.

"And you would be Yuy," he added in a much more respectful tone, looking Heero over.

"And you'd still be hot?" Cardle asked curiously.

Matty started laughing at that as Cardle slapped his hand over his mouth in dismay.

"This is Wong Jinli," Wufei clarified, glancing at the soldier and grinning at Matty briefly. "He has some man-crush on Heero, so if you help me keep Heero away," he said that to Duo, "then I might be willing to do you a favor."

Duo's face split into a wicked grin, which Wufei acknowledged and ignored somehow simultaneously. He was grinning, but looking more to Heero than not.

"Don't say stuff like that," Quatre hissed at Duo.

"I didn't say anything," Duo retorted, giving the blond a look.

Quatre looked away.

"I'm not _that_ bad," Heero added, wrapping his arms around Matty's waist. "You may or may not have noticed, but I have a guy that I'm rather happy with."

"Rather happy?" Matty demanded, turning to meet his eyes again.

"You're in _uniform_," Trowa snapped in irritation at Heero. "You, too," he added to Duo. "I will _seriously_ turn your asses in if you don't start showing some _decorum_."

"And we'll get court marshaled again," Duo noted. "We'll resign again, and this time when we move back to earth we'll leave your stuff in the lobby."

"You have to _act_ like an officer," Trowa half snarled at him. "You're not some civilian out for a damn day hike with friends. Treat our rank with the respect it deserves."

They all blinked at Trowa blankly as his two toadies looked away as if they weren't listening—a show of respect since the others were being chastised.

"Wow," Jinli muttered, blinking at the man with interest. "You're all wound up."

"Why is he here?" Trowa snapped at Wufei pointedly.

"Because I'm not in uniform," Wufei snapped back pointedly. "I'm glad you're so welcoming to someone I haven't _seen_ since I was thirteen."

Trowa blinked at that and looked away.

At least to Duo's ear, the words had been said on the edge of emotion. The ones who didn't know Wufei well may not have picked up on it, but his comrades did. He was acting calm enough, but his edge of...hysteria...hadn't passed. He was still just as wound up as contacting his old crowd as Trowa was about their rank.

At least Wufei's wasn't random.

"I'm changing," Duo noted. "You?" he added to Quatre.

"Right," Quatre agreed, rising tiredly from his seat.

Duo ignored the looks from the others and fell in behind the blond. Quatre pretended to ignore him, but Duo doubted the others believed that anymore than he did.

"What are you doing?" Quatre hissed when Duo shut the door to Quatre's room behind them.

"I'm talking to you," Duo hissed back, moving forward to start unbuttoning the guy's jacket. "You keep snapping at me like a boyfriend, and if that's what we're going to be," he jerked the coat off in a way that nearly knocked Quatre over, "then we're going to have a serious conversation first. You can't just expect me to give into your morals when _I_ gave _**you**_ a handjob and got _nothing_ in return."

Quatre's cheeks flared as he looked down.

"And stop doing _that_," Duo persisted. "I'm not interested in the flirt-games you seem to be playing. Either commit or back off, because there _is_ no in between, got it?"

Quatre raised his eyes to glower at that, but Duo'd removed his shirt. The American was severely tempted to rip the guy's shirt off and see what he could get away with, but that would compound their situation. He wanted to give Quatre the time and personal space to consider the implications of their actions.

He tossed the button-up shirt on the bed, then turned and moved from the room.

"What are you doing?" Heero asked Duo blankly when the door had shut.

"I needed to ask him something," Duo muttered, not quite meeting his eyes.

"And you're lying to me about it?" Heero gave him a perplexed look.

"I'm complicated like that," Duo reassured him with a smirk. "I take it that if your little lover follows you in to change, you'll both end up on the bed?"

Heero flashed him a grin and shook his head. "Not anymore. We've come to control those particular urges...I just don't need a babysitter to change. You might, though," he glanced at Quatre's room. "I'll let Matty know."

Duo smirked wickedly at him, moving across the hall to his own room. "Please do."

Heero snorted at him, but Duo closed the door behind himself, and quickly started to strip.

- -

"I guess I drink too much," Wufei summed up quietly, studying his nearly empty bottle. After having returned to the apartments, Trowa hadn't come up with any major information. Whatever mood had gripped the rest of the group had passed when they changed, and Quatre had spent a lot of time off by himself. As a whole, they were all subdued, and the rest had headed to bed early.

Wufei and Jinli had been sitting in Wufei's small utilitarian room talking and drinking for the night. Jinli was mainly staring out the window at the dark night, though.

"I guess that was hard for you," Jinli muttered, finally looking back to him. "After it happened," he looked down to his bottle as he spoke, "the rest of us mostly stayed together. It was wrenching when Trit killed himself. They kept falling like flies. I never knew if Ror would go or not...it just...it was terrifying. I could never find you," he added. "I was looking for you as a Long."

Wufei swirled his bottle and the bit of liquid left in it. He couldn't think of anything to say, though.

"When I finally realized you weren't anywhere as Long, I looked you up as Chang...and boom," he made an exploding gesture with his fingers, focusing in front of himself in a way that suggested a computer screen. "Chang Wufei saves the universe, Chang Wufei fights for Marimea...Chang Wufei promoted...and promoted again...becoming a general."

Wufei looked further down—the man was watching him.

"I never saw the one I hoped to see—I never saw that Chang Wufei returned to L-5, I never saw that Chang Wufei searched for anyone he'd ever considered a friend."

Wufei felt the tears again, covering his face with his hands as he sobbed.

"I gave up," Jinli admitted, looking out the window. "I thought you must be having a great life...I was mad at you for _so_ long," he whispered, looking back to his broken friend. "I kept thinking you were some big wig and probably had forgotten everything...when you called," he added quietly, looking up. "When I realized it was you...I realized I was wrong."

"I thought for sure," Wufei gritted, controlling his emotions. "I thought that everyone blamed me."

"Blamed you for what?" Jinli retorted. "For the colony?" he laughed, looking away as tears streamed down his cheek. "It never occurred to any of us that you might even consider that," he noted quietly. "We were pried apart one by one, and I'm the only one left here. They're so far away...and here you are."

"Should I not have called you?" Wufei muttered, wiping at his eyes.

"No," the man returned, looking at him. "I'm glad you did. Don't think you shouldn't have—but Wufei, it's been _years_."

Wufei squeezed the tears from his eyes quickly, before he could start to cry _again_. He looked toward the window, though he didn't have a view out of it. "I wouldn't have called you today if Matty hadn't been there. I dialed you three times, you know..."

"I thought you'd dropped the phone or something," the guy muttered, blinking at him.

"No," Wufei refused. "The second time it rang through I closed it and tossed it down—you called me back, and Duo couldn't make me answer it, so he did for me."

"We're quite the pair, aren't we?" Jinli muttered, toasting him with a grin. "We really are."

Wufei studied his face a long moment before smiling back at him and raising his own. They clinked their bottles together before downing the contents.

"Tomorrow...is going to suck," Jinli muttered, studying his empty bottle.

"I get to get up and play officer," Wufei agreed, dropping over sideways on his bed. "I don't have the stability, at this point to get you any bedding, and there's no way in hell you're driving—and I'm not making any soldiers do it for you. What do you want to do?"

The guy's eyes drifted to the bed behind Wufei and he smiled slightly. "You remember when we were little?" he asked quietly. "And I stayed over?" He pushed himself up off the chair he'd been in. "Your mom told us not to eat the cookies and you snuck them to bed with us," he laughed a little, crawling over Wufei. "And we both ate so many we got sick."

Wufei didn't respond, closing his eyes as the tears came again—he wanted to know if he'd _ever_ stop crying.

"I leaned against your back," Jinli noted, pulling the blankets up, "and you leaned against mine. We suffered together into sleep...let's do that again. Let's pretend that..." there were tears in his voice as he spoke, "let's pretend it's a simpler time. You went away to some stupid boarding school and maybe in the morning your mom will wake us up and make us something to eat, huh?"

Wufei started sobbing silently as the blankets were pulled out from under him, then draped over him. After a few moments, Jinli had settled next to him. They weren't touching, though. Wufei slid his boots off, then rose unsteadily to his feet. He moved across the room and flicked off the light, then staggered back to drop back on the mattress. "If we tell anyone, they won't care," he noted quietly, pressing his back against his friend's. "They'll say it was our own fault."

Jinli laughed slightly, pressing back against him in return. "So let's not tell," he suggested. "And then we can see if they notice."

- -

Duo opened his eyes at the click of his door. He wouldn't have woken up if it hadn't closed, and that said to him it was a friend. Other than that, he wasn't awake enough to tell who it was—at first.

Quatre. He could smell the blonde's shampoo.

"What are you..." he started to whisper.

"I'm sorry," Quatre whispered, crawling onto the bed. "I know you don't want to..."

"Sleep?" Duo retorted, moving over to accommodate him. He wasn't sure if Quatre was going to say something about their...relationship, for lack of a better word...or if he was being random. "It's four in the damn morning."

"I know, I'm sorry," Quatre whispered, hesitantly moving in closer to him. He sounded almost like he wanted to cry.

"What are you doing?" Duo muttered tiredly, rubbing at his eyes.

"Wufei and his friend finally went to sleep," he explained, still whispering.

"So what?" Duo tried not to snap. After the day he'd had with his friend, he wasn't sure what to expect. "Good for them?"

"You didn't _feel_ it," Quatre muttered, curling somewhat into him. "It's bad, Duo."

Duo realized there was a want of comfort in his friend and draped his arms around the other. It took Quatre a moment to figure out the positioning, and then he snuggled deeper into Duo's arms—but didn't speak.

Duo was vaguely annoyed about that. "So?" he muttered quietly.

"Huh?" Quatre jumped very slightly. "Oh, sorry...today?" he thought a moment as Duo tried to translate that into common-man's language. "It was...definitely interesting." There was a sort of commiserating acceptance to that, and a bit of a confession.

...today?

Oh.

Duo blinked and grinned slightly. "I..."

"I think I can kinda see what Heero's always going on about," Quatre added quickly. "I always thought he was just making things up...but that was just your _hands_."

..._that's totally not what I was talking about._ Duo wasn't exactly sure what to say, but correcting his friend probably wasn't the best idea.

"Could you do it...again?" Quatre whispered very fast.

Wow.

"Not without some sort of retribution," Duo retorted. "I really thought you were going to chase me off, so it started out as playing."

"I know," Quatre admitted, looking away.

"So you'll stop scolding me?" Duo asked curiously.

"You say a lot of really _bad_ things," Quatre chided. He hadn't moved out of Duo's arms in the slightest, and from what the American could tell, he was completely relaxed. "You even say them to subordinates when you're in uniform. That's not okay, Trowa's right about that. You need to have _some_ decorum."

"I act one way with my friends and another way in public. My jokes..."

"You would _totally_ take that Cardle guy to bed if he wanted to," Quatre protested instantly, moving back to glower up at him. "Don't even pretend like you're just kidding. It's just like when you came into my room earlier. You say it to test for reactions—it's just like you were saying before...before you did it," Quatre looked away slightly. "Butter'em up for more fun later."

Duo smirked slightly, realizing the truth in that. "I can admit to that," he noted. "I don't need you scolding me, especially in front of strangers."

"Oh, like they matter to you," Quatre returned glumly, rolling over.

The American was mildly bemused to be spooning with Quatre. Out of all his friends, he'd never thought Quatre would be the one to give into his mild attempts at seduction. Hell, the things he said to the group of them could never be _considered_ seduction. It was the tease to get the reaction without expectation of the fulfillment of the plans.

"What?" Quatre asked, sounding suddenly nervous. "What are you thinking?"

"We're...spooning," Duo explained, amused to say the words. "I never thought I ever would with you—hell, I thought Wufei'd give over before you did."

Quatre fell silent.

"Besides," Duo noted, shaking the confusion off. "I wanted to know what you were feeling from Wufei and his friend."

"Huh?"

"You said they were upsetting you," Duo explained. "I'm all ready to curl up and go to sleep, but if they're bad..."

"They're sleeping," Quatre returned quietly, then snorted. "Passed out is more like it. They drank a _lot_."

"So why did you come in here?" Duo asked blankly.

"They upset me," he noted thoughtfully. "But...I kinda just wanted to be with you."

Oh.

Duo blinked again, then squeezed him slightly. "You're going to drive me mad, aren't you?"

"What?" Quatre asked, rolling slightly to look at him.

Duo grinned to himself and shook his head. "Nevermind. They're okay? They'll be all right?"

"They should be," Quatre agreed uncertainly. "What do you mean, drive you mad?"

"You're going to make me nuts," Duo repeated, kissing at Quatre's throat.

"Hey..." Quatre pulled away slightly.

Duo laughed a little, mildly amazed to be proven correct so very quickly. "Let's go to sleep," the American suggested, settling back. "Just be prepared for everyone to freak out on you when we wake up."

"Yeah, huh?" Quatre made an amused noise, starting to relax again. "Don't do that anymore."

Duo snorted, focusing on the very white wall that almost seemed to glow red from the light of his alarm clock.

He'd done it to himself. He couldn't expect any sympathy from anyone—he'd just have to leave it...and see how long it took everyone else to notice.

- -

"They said they're sending Winner around," Matthew said in a low voice to Cruz. "Watch your ass tomorrow. If he shows up, you need to focus on your job."

"Winner?" Cruz demanded nervously.

"He's supposed to be a space heart, too," Matthew agreed, looking around again. "Just be careful what you think and feel tomorrow. That guy that's been with them...from the two-twentieth. He was saying something about it earlier. I don't think he realized I was listening, so just keep your cool."

"He'll feel my plotting," Cruz muttered.

"Just _focus_ on your job," Matthew snapped at him, shoving him toward the hall again. "Get back to your barracks before anyone realizes you're up."

Cruz nodded, biting at his lip, then started down the hall.

Matthew watched him go, then looked toward the ceiling, taking a deep breath.

It was going to be a very long day.


	11. 10

**Ten**

Armed with new determination, Quatre left the apartment very early to join Trowa. He had woken up alone in Duo's bed and been severely confused before deathly embarrassed. No one had seen him leave the American's room, though, so he was able to work through that. He'd showered quickly and found the apartment to be empty of all but Wufei's friend and Matty. Both males had been in the rooms they'd slept.

Trowa was deep in conversation with Raymond and a guy Quatre didn't recognize—and something felt off.

Duo looked up to him as he moved into the room.

Quatre shook his head, focusing on the feeling. He was grateful his friends knew him well enough that so little a gesture make such a difference. He could feel their awareness of his presence blink on like light switches—until Trowa's friend Raymond.

It wasn't him.

Quatre focused on the new man as both Raymond and that other looked up.

"You're lying," Quatre informed the new man.

"What are you talking about?" the guy asked too quickly.

"You're lying," Quatre repeated, looking to Raymond. "Arrest this man."

Raymond stared at him in shocked disbelief as the second man rose to his feet.

"_Never_ hesitate to follow an officer's orders," Trowa snarled at Raymond...and grabbed the other man as he tried to make a break for it.

"But..." Raymond started.

"No buts about it," Duo snapped, rising easily to his feet and looking mildly amused. "If it's a mistake, apologies can be made."

"It is!" the guy stated quickly. "It really is!"

"So what were you lying about?" Quatre asked curiously, moving around to the side of the table where the man had been sitting. He looked down to their spread of papers, then started to page through the leaflets. "This," he told Trowa, pushing one out. "And this...and..." he looked up to the new man in amazement.

The guy was staring at him in something like horror.

"What is your name, anyway?" Quatre asked curiously.

"He's Matthew Stater," Raymond said quietly.

"No, he needs to speak for himself," Quatre gave the man a curious sort of look. "I feel no duplicity in you. If you are our enemy, then he should have taken notes," he looked back to the other man. "What is your name?"

"Stater," the guy spat at him. "Two twenty-five MS specials."

"You maintain the outside of the colony," Quatre noted, tilting his head as he looked around to Heero. "Why don't you ask the lady Une to join us? She might be very interested in anything more he may have to say."

- -

Une couldn't help but feel relieved as she sat at the table with the five brigadiers. They'd questioned the man extensively, but he'd come up short on several of their questions. A few he didn't know the answer to, and a few he chose not to answer. He had become mildly panicked when he realized that Quatre would immediately call him on his lies.

The questioning of Matthew Stater had been followed by routing out a few of his cronies, but not all of them. Quatre knew there were more, but couldn't tell which ones. As it was, after they'd found most of the cronies, Quatre had swept through the ranks of the 225 specials. No more of them, at least, were traitors.

"Why couldn't you have done that a week ago?" Heero muttered tiredly, rubbing at his face.

Une was about to speak up and explain to the man that the situation hadn't been right—there were points where the man's former training gave him a different view of life entirely. Evidently, though, Quatre didn't give him that grace.

"Why didn't you get Stater with Trowa a week ago?" the blond retorted.

"Don't start bickering," Duo commanded the blond. "This is not the time or place."

"So what?" Quatre focused on him. "You're going to tell _me_ what to do now?"

"Sure, that's what this is," Duo retorted.

"What's with you two?" Trowa asked blankly.

"Can I go back to the apartment now?" Wufei asked curiously.

They all looked at him blankly.

"Jinli should still be there," he explained.

"Jinli?" Une asked blankly. "No, you can't go back now, we just got information."

"No, we got information this morning," Wufei gave her a look.

"You're not doing anything here anyway," Heero noted.

Une looked to him in alarm.

"I wasn't the one who got the verbal confirmation about it being in the two cluster," Wufei agreed waspishly, gesturing with the stack of papers he had in front of himself. "Obviously I wasn't useful."

"I know. Why are you still here?" Heero retorted.

"Heero," Une started, trying to keep her voice calm.

They all looked at her blankly a long moment.

"Go," Heero added, gesturing at the Chinese man. "You need to explain to him that we're going on a raid and you might get killed."

"Killed?" Wufei repeated sarcastically. "You're kidding, right?"

Heero flashed him a wicked grin.

Une stared at the Japanese man in disbelief as Wufei rose to his feet and tossed his papers at Quatre.

"I don't suppose you can have supper ready by the time we get back?" Duo asked, rubbing at his face.

"I'll make it. If it's cold, that's your own too bad," Wufei turned and saluted Une formally—and darted for the door.

"Hey!" she protested after him.

"Telling him he's useless probably isn't the best tactic," Duo noted pointedly to Heero.

"That really was uncouth," Une agreed quickly, starting to rise.

"Oh, and Jinli," Duo noted to her. "He forgot to explain that. It's Wong Jinli. I guess it was his best friend until they were thirteen."

Une stopped, focusing on him sharply as the door out of the room closed. It took her a moment to recover from the shock of it as the four men watched her with interest—and she dropped back into her chair.

They were fast when they were leaving. It might take them ten minutes to get _to_ her, but if they had a thirty second window they were gone.

She gave Duo an arch look.

"What?" Duo asked curiously, opening Wufei's folder—he and Quatre were sitting side-by-side. "So we now need to get agents," he looked to Trowa. "We need some good and quiet recon."

"And how do we do that?" Trowa asked laconically, sliding down in his seat. "Stater didn't say who he had there."

"Well damn," Duo said dryly. "All we have is a space heart who can tell motives as soon as he sees a face—it's too bad we didn't have something electronic that could transmit real-time video and audio. You know, something like a camera, only _live_."

Trowa gave him a very level look.

"Like, a phone," Duo said as if the notion had just occurred to him. "A phone that can transmit audio and video in real time."

"Do you feel _better_ now?" Trowa snapped, sitting back.

"Yes, actually," Duo reassured him, sliding down in his own seat.

"You're going to wrinkle your uniform," Quatre snapped at him.

The _look_ he gave Quatre portrayed many things that Une didn't understand—but it did make Quatre look away wordlessly.

"What is _with_ you two?" Heero asked them blankly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Duo retorted, making a slight gesture with one hand and looking back to his files. "Quatre can call the guys on 13 and get them to do recon around the colony."

"You've all lost your minds," Une informed them all, rising slowly to her feet and gathering up her paperwork. "I have all sorts of internal bullshit that needs my attention. You know what needs to be done, so do it."

A wicked smile crossed Trowa's face as they all stood and saluted her.

She started for the door, glancing back at them once again, then headed from the room.

- -

"Leir?" Ranger asked blankly. "What are you doing calling here?"

"They've got Matthew!" Cruz replied in a breathless sort of squeak. "They got Matthew and Chase and...and...I don't know if they realize...I shouldn't have called!" the call ended.

Ranger blinked at his phone uncertainly—then realized what that meant.

Matthew had been the one in charge of hiding the MS from 27.

He started cursing, hitting the button to dial Rab.

"Why are you calling here?" Biden, the man in charge of Rab's vid asked sweetly.

"I'm not even kidding, get him _now_," Ranger retorted.

The guy gave him a startled look, then turned around. The screen flickered and the entire control center came into view with Rab turning toward the screen. J was sitting on the far side of the man Rab'd been talking to.

"Leir called," Ranger informed Rab quickly. "He said that they have Matthew and Chase...I'm not sure who all else, but evidently he wasn't in custody."

Most of the people in the room froze, turning to look at him.

"Run," Rab whispered, staring at his friend. "Take or leave the prince and go...if...when did it happen?" he added.

"Leir was panicked. I have no idea."

"Go, now!" Rab ordered, stepping toward the screen in alarm. "The most time you have is the four hour transit...unless they have MS," he looked around to J in alarm.

Rabid didn't need telling twice. After all the stories he'd had of the pilots from Rab, he'd figured he didn't have much time. Compounding that with the expression in Rab's eyes...he knew it was true.

He turned to Hoss.

"What?" Hoss asked blankly.

"Evacuate the premise," Ranger snarled at him. "Get me the sedative."

- -

Zechs looked tiredly up from the screen, wondering what wonderful cuisine he was going to be offered for lunch _this_ day—and froze when he saw Ranger holding a syringe.

So they'd been found and they were moving.

Zechs rose to his feet, backing away from the man nervously.

"Don't be difficult," Ranger suggested, moving forward. "We don't have the time for this."

"If you think I'm going to cooperate with you," Zechs returned, meeting his eyes, "then you're a fool."

"I was _hoping_ you'd say something like that," Ranger noted, tucking the syringe into his pocket and pulling off his jacket.

Special.

Zechs realized the man was a special, not just a soldier.

The guy's first lunge was pointed enough, but also testing. Ranger wasn't sure of Milliardo's hand-to-hand skills. It wasn't too hard to play-up the clumsiness he didn't feel. It didn't take the prince too long to have the man convinced he was useless in hand-to-hand. It was a common mistake when a person's main fame was made in a mobile suit. It didn't take into account years of the intense focus on revenge. It didn't account for harsh anger that could never be satisfied.

The moment was slight, and an opening made from Ranger's own conceit.

Zechs dropped his faade instantly, moving through the man's guard and slamming his knee into the man's stomach.

Ranger gasped, almost to the point of gagging.

"You're a fool," Zechs hissed at him, pulling the syringe from the man's pocket. "Not only did you think you could take me hand-to-hand, but you don't even know my training."

"Fuck you," Ranger gasped at him.

Zechs slammed the needle into the man's leg, watching the tranquilizer there-in empty into the guy's veins—or muscles, since the pants obscured the skin. "Is this Procilian?" the man added, blinking at the liquid with interest. "Didn't you know I'm immune to Procilian?" he sneered down at Ranger a moment. "Why in the nine-hells did you come here alone?"

Ranger laughed weakly. "My men are coming, and they'll find you."

"Yes, but I've done got one up on you now," Zechs reassured him, smirking slightly. He ripped the man's over-shirt off. It was a deep green, and all the men on the premise seemed to wear them. "It's too bad you didn't have your hat," Zechs added as he buttoned that up over his white under-shirt. "My hair is so damn obvious, don't you think?"

Ranger, however, had closed his eyes.

Zechs snorted, taking the man's gun and tucking it into one of the pockets of his cargo-pants.

It was time to leave.

- -

"Come in Jupiter...Jupiter, are you on?"

"Of course I'm on," Heero retorted into the mic.

"The circuit's been cleared, Sir," whoever it was on the other end noted irritably. "We usually follow a formula."

"Yeah, but my rank and general attitude make it more amusing to annoy you."

There was a long silence before the line cut.

"Come in Earth...Earth, please respond."

Duo was smirking happily as he replied. The usual set up for small fleets used seven of the eight planets in the solar system—earth usually wasn't used for those communications.

Heero had to figure that only Duo would choose such a name for himself.

Something about their mission seemed lacking, really. It was like the night they'd spent on 27 before they made their rush in to save Matty. They were all being far too nonchalant about the whole thing.

But then again, they'd all expected to be dead by sixteen, hadn't they? None of them had thought they'd live to fight a second war, or at the very least that they'd live _through_ that war.

"Ready to fly?" Heero purred to his four comrades, stroking the controls of the Leo he'd taken.

"I'm ready," Duo agreed. His small octagon was highlighted in yellow, the word _Earth_ flashing in the corner.

"I'm good," Wufei noted, his octagon flashing—he was dark enough, and his border a dark blue, that the white of his name, _Mars_, seemed to almost glow.

"Let's get on with this," Trowa agreed. _Saturn_ was almost lost on his screen.

"What are we waiting for?" Quatre snapped.

Mercury—the messenger god.

That didn't really suit the blond, but then again, it was better than calling him the god of war...or the ocean.

Heero smirked at the camera briefly, then looked back out his window. "Let's get this party started."

"Right," Wufei agreed.

He hit the button, turning on his booster...and almost as one, the five suits jetted forward.

- -

Zechs ducked into a back alley, moving around a dumpster to lean against the wall. He'd ducked into a room that ended up being someone's quarters—it had been just a moment, long enough to hide—and he'd found a hat. His hair was short enough that it hadn't taken him more than a moment to tuck it up into the thing before he darted from the room.

People had been shouting orders all around him, and as he'd found his way _out_ of the blasted building, he'd realized that computers were being loaded haphazardly into a van.

There would have been no way he could have gone out a main exit and not been spotted, so he'd doubled back and head into what ended up being an office. He'd taken an emergency exit out and ran across the property.

It was a mostly square building with no particular distinguishing markers. It looked like it could have been apartments, offices, or even a school.

He'd lost the uniform shirt and hat within a block of the building.

If he'd been smart, he'd have searched Hanager for money.

What was going on?

Well, the first thing to do would be to figure out _which_ colony he was on. V08744 had a certain look to it that distinguished it—the buildings were built a certain way, and this colony definitely did not have that. He needed either to find out which he was on, or find the military depot.

All of that while avoiding being spotted by myriad enemies he did not know the face of or being spotted by the media.

He grinned a bit ruefully to himself as he looked around again.

This was going to be _fun_.

- -

Wufei knew he wasn't the only one reveling in their flight. The extended use of the boosters gave them power to mimic the engines of their gundams—a force and ability. The poor Leos, though, could not maneuver nearly as well.

They were quiet as they flew, very aware that they did not have to keep one eye open for enemies. Theirs were the only suits flying through space, the ships were not armed.

But then again, if they'd been that ignorant, the 27 idiots would have overrun them.

"Mark," Quatre noted suddenly, starting them all from their reverie.

"Huh?" Duo asked blankly.

"_Mark_," Quatre repeated, pointing. "There's something coming up on the left."

It took a moment, but Wufei's sensors detected the same blip.

"Should we investigate?" Duo asked curiously, studying the thing.

"We have to get to 13," Heero denied. "We can't afford to stop and investigate some ship."

"Our circuit is supposed to be clear," Trowa reminded him. "I think we should hail them."

"You'd have to drop the boosters," Heero retorted.

"You're going to make _me_ do it?" Trowa asked blankly.

"Oh, fine," Duo muttered...and his suit dropped out of the formation.

"That's _not_ what I meant," Heero protested.

Duo laughed. "Ahoy ship, you are flying in restricted space."

- -

Ranger opened his eyes, blinking up at the ceiling. His vision was completely blurred...and they were moving

"You awake?" Hoss asked curiously.

"Ahh...where are we," Ranger groaned back.

"Nearing 44," Hoss explained. "I gave you the counter injection about two minutes ago."

Ranger groaned again, closing his eyes.

"What happened?" Hoss demanded.

"That damn prince got the syringe from me," Ranger retorted. "What's it look like?"

"Your leg is bruised to shit," Hoss retorted, then realized that the man hadn't actually been asking. "Your leg is going to burn for a few days."

Ranger groaned again, feeling the sensation in question suddenly.

"He seriously slammed the needle into your leg?"

"Yeah," Ranger agreed. "He thought it was Procilian."

"How the hell did he even know what _that_ looks like?" Hoss asked blankly.

"Because he's immune to it," Ranger reminded him, rolling his eyes. He pushed himself up slowly, then rubbed at his leg.

"Don't fuss with it," Hoss muttered, knocking his hand off.

"Where do you have the bastard?" Ranger retorted.

"Have?" Hoss asked in mild amusement. "We don't _have_ him. We got our shit out of the building and you weren't there, so I went to look for you. He's far gone."

Ranger focused on him sharply, realizing that they were in space.

"He was long gone by the time we realized you were in his room. What were you doing, going in there alone? Hell, Hanager, you're a special...what happened?"

"I underestimated the prince," Ranger snapped back. "I forgot he's also Zechs Marquise _and_ the Lightning Count."

Hoss rolled his eyes.

"You didn't wake me up because you knew I'd make you search for him," Ranger noted, narrowing his eyes at the man. "You waited until we were well in flight to wake me up."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Hoss returned in a low and dangerous voice. "If you start making a fuss, I'll brain you. I was standing right there with you. I heard Rab. With or _without_ the prince."

Ranger exploded, shouting at the man in his frustration and anger. He couldn't stand because of their proximity and his burning leg, but he had full use of his arms.

Hoss watched him levelly a long moment and set himself. "Calm down," he ordered.

Ranger, of course, had no such intention, and informed the man of that...he barely had time to the man's hand moving before it was on his throat, and for one horrid moment he thought the guy might be choking him—but his airway wasn't restricted...

...and _that_ tasted _**nasty**_.

He gagged as a fiery liquid slid down his throat, choking and spluttering. He had no choice but to swallow...and his stomach instantly swam.

"We aren't going back," Hoss informed him happily. "Actually, considering that we can't get to 27, and our network has been penetrated, we aren't even staying in space. This was our backup plan for this eventuality, and Rab will figure it out. What I just gave you is another sedative. It won't interact with either the Eptol or the Capton. You'll sleep at least four hours."

Ranger blinked, realizing his eyes couldn't stay open. The lethargy had sank through his body to the point that he couldn't even sit up.

"You'll probably have a dry mouth when you wake up, and your leg will still burn, but you'll be healthy and well slept. Sleep well, Hanager."

Ranger glared up at him as best he could, realizing that the room had went dark—then groggily realizing also that it was just his eyes. He couldn't keep them open.

He was going to kill Hoss...he was going to hurt him so...so...

Hoss shook his head, covering the guy with a blanket and looking around the small infirmary.

He needed to get Ranger into a sleeping bunk for re-entry...or at the very least, restraint.


	12. 11

**Eleven**

Quatre ran his hand through his hair as he moved through the deserted hallways of a building that had been fully inhabited two hours before. There was paper all over the floor, and in some of the rooms—ones with open doors, personal items were strewn across the floor.

How had they known?

Actually, Quatre sort of preferred it that way. His recon team had swept through the building to confirm its abandonment. Heero and Trowa were wandering through the rooms that had been offices while Wufei walked the second floor. Duo hadn't caught up with them yet, and hopefully the ship he'd stopped to investigate wasn't hostile.

Quatre moved to the door of a center room, feeling something from that place that he recognized. The light was on as he moved into it, and unlike the other rooms, it was not in disarray.

Actually, the only thing anywhere was an over-shirt hanging over the foot of the bed—and a remote comfortably setting on the coffee table in front of a small tv.

Zechs' room.

He looked around the area in disbelief as he lifted the over-shirt.

There had been a struggle...but that was all he could gather.

"Nothing?"

Quatre jumped hard as Duo stepped into the room. They stared at each other a long moment, then Quatre gestured at the room. "This was his room."

"That's the shirt he had on when they grabbed him," Duo agreed, indicating the thing with his head.

"What did you find out?"

"That ship?" Duo asked, shrugging as he leaned his back against the wall. "Just a civilian pilot. He was trying to hit 44 because 14 was out of docking. He was absolutely horrified."

"Did you check him out fully?" Quatre demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"He was hot," Duo agreed happily. "Cute face, good lips—kissing lips. He even had a nice ass," he made a gesture indicating a curve. "I think he was into me," he winked.

Quatre drew himself up.

Duo laughed, not sure why he appreciated that rise. He looked to the ceiling as he moved away. "He was fully marked out—you saw it first, did it seem off to you?"

"I don't appreciate you saying shit like that," Quatre informed him irritably. "Don't be so lewd."

"Why not?" Duo retorted, looking down the hall. He wasn't sure where the others were entirely, but he hadn't gotten the impression Quatre wanted them to know anything.

"Just because your mind is _always_ in the gutter doesn't mean that _mine_ is, too."

"But it is when you look at me, isn't it?" Duo met his eyes, smirking wickedly. "I'll make all the damn suggestions I want. I always have. _You_ need to get over it. Now answer me. Did you feel anything off about their vessel?"

Quatre bristled a moment, then realized that Duo was serious. He crossed his arms, studying the man a long moment. "If I said I was interested in your offers, but admitted I was scared, would you respect me then?"

"Probably not," Duo retorted. "You have a nasty habit of avoiding answering questions."

"You're trying to change the subject!" Quatre snapped back. "What do I have to say to get you to stop saying _shit?_"

"You have to say you're my boy," Duo smiled a bit facetiously at him. "And that wouldn't even end it. It's how I am. Can you get back on topic now?"

"On _topic?_" Quatre demanded, his ire rising even more.

"I came to ask you about that ship," Duo snapped back.

Quatre settled where he was, blinking several times. "What about it?"

"Their registration was all in order, their flight number was in order—but all of that could have been doctored. Did you _feel_ anything at _all_ about it?"

"They were nervous," he muttered, thinking about it. "Not hiding or anything, but trying to hurry."

"So it _could_ have been these idiots," he gestured toward the building, then ran a hand through his hair. "I'm going to contact HQ and make sure that ship is tracked."

Quatre watched him walk away, then looked the room over again.

He wasn't entirely sure what to do about _that_ man...but the man who'd been prisoner in the room was something else entirely.

He started after the other, realizing he needed to let them all know that there was something weird with the room. The argument with Duo would have to wait—it really wasn't the time _or_ the place.

- -

It was all well and good to think to just go up and enter a military compound, but the issue with that was _finding_ one. Actually, finding the name of a colony itself without going into populated areas.

This was ridiculous.

Zechs groaned to himself, moving over to a stoop and sitting down on it, rubbing at his face.

This was ridiculous. He needed to find a payphone and dial the emergency number.

He looked up and around, then rose. No one seemed to have seen him, but that didn't really mean all that much.

He moved up the road again, realizing something.

He'd been here before. It was familiar.

How had he gotten so turned around?

Something was different about the building, though. There were a couple vans around for SWAT teams, not the same sort that were there when he'd ran for it.

"This is a restricted zone!" a soldier snarled, moving up to him as he came nearer the building.

Zechs met his eyes.

The man, and many around, actually, fell silent. They were all staring at him as if they didn't understand what they were seeing.

"I'm _telling_ you!" he was pretty sure that was Quatre's voice. "Something in that room wasn't right!"

"Until you can tell me _what_," Duo retorted, "I'm not overly interested."

Zechs moved toward the front of the building, feeling his heart start to thunder in his chest.

"Don't be an _asshole_," Quatre protested back.

Zechs moved to the door where the voices were coming from as the various soldiers around stared at him in disbelief.

"I'm not being an asshole, Quatre," Duo snapped. "We have to figure out where the hell they took the prince, so some weird room isn't going to do anyone any good—unless you can read minds. We _have_ to find Princey."

Wufei, who was the only one properly facing the door of the five men, stopped and looked at Zechs. His expression changed to a wide and wicked grin.

"I know that," Quatre muttered.

Duo made a frustrated noise, gesturing toward the ceiling in his exasperation.

"Hey," Wufei said happily, looking between his friends. "Guess what?"

"What?" Duo snapped.

"I found him."

"What?" Duo asked blankly.

Wufei pointed at the door.

The group all turned to look at him blankly.

"Wow," Trowa muttered, blinking at him. "How anticlimactic."

"But I _did_ find him," Wufei persisted.

Heero was blinking at him, too.

They were all confused.

"If you ask how he did that, I'm going to smack you," Duo noted to Quatre, whose mouth had opened.

The blond focused on him in instant anger.

"What are you guys doing here?" Zechs asked them all blankly.

"Considering that you were _away_," Trowa noted, "I think we can ask you the same thing. What the hell happened?"

Zechs pointed at Duo. "Your phone."

"It's pretty," Duo agreed, pulling the thing out so Zechs could see it. "What's your point?"

Zechs snatched for it, but Duo moved off backwards.

"Knock it off!" Quatre ordered Duo.

Heero looked to Wufei, then gestured pointedly with his head at Quatre.

The Chinese man shrugged slightly.

"You honestly need to knock _that_ off," Duo retorted.

"If you piss me off," Quatre informed him in a severely firm voice, "then there's no way in hell I'll let you seduce me."

Duo froze to stare at him in disbelief as the others looked to the blond in utter shock.

"I don't need to know your twisted fantasies," Zechs noted, yanking the phone from Duo's hand since the man had stopped moving.

"If I'm going to seduce you," Duo noted, making an irritated gesture at Zechs, "then there's no _let_ about it."

"Okay," Trowa muttered, amusement deep in his tone. "_What?_"

"Duo caught my attention yesterday," Quatre snapped back, his cheeks slightly flushed. "It's nothing to...you don't need to..."

"Caught your attention?" Duo echoed in amusement. "I gave you a handjob. I hadn't realized you were so naive you didn't know the terms."

Quatre turned, his cheeks flaring more as he started hitting at Duo's chest.

Wufei blinked at Quatre, then looked back to Heero.

"I told you," Heero retorted to that look. "I _said_."

"But they're _always_ weird," Wufei protested.

"Where the _hell_ is Lu's number?" Zechs demanded irritably of Duo, looking up to him since he'd caught Quatre's wrist and they were face to face.

"She's listed as secret lover," Duo noted, still watching Quatre's eyes.

"Secret lover?" Zechs echoed darkly. "You know I hate you, don't you?"

"We'll have to find a quiet place to discuss it after you're debriefed," Duo noted, looking away from Quatre finally to meet Zechs' eyes. "Somewhere with no one to interfere."

"You're _not_ going to fight him," Quatre snapped, trying to yank his wrists away.

Duo looked back to him fairly pointedly.

"So what made you lose your mind?" Trowa asked curiously, moving in to disengage the blond from the...shorthaired American's grip.

"What happened to your hair?" Zechs asked blankly.

Duo looked back to him, staring at him a long moment, then pointed at the phone.

"Oh, shit," Zechs hit the keys.

"Does he realize that we were about to go all rescue-y on him?" Wufei asked Heero curiously.

"If he doesn't at the moment, he'll realize it in a while," Heero reassured him. "I don't understand why he came back."

"So how did you lose your mind?" Trowa demanded of Quatre again, shoving Duo back.

Duo wanted to snigger, trying to move past Trowa. The fact that Quatre had so openly commented on what had happened meant he was released from the full respect of keeping the secret. He knew that he only had an hour or so of the play to get away with, and he didn't want to disappoint Trowa. On top of that, when he'd gotten ahold of Quatre, the blond hadn't reacted adversely.

He only had so much time to _play_.

"I'm _so_ pissed at you!" Lucretzia announced loudly. They had, after all, left her behind. "You have no idea how _pissed_ I am at you!"

"I'm sorry," Zechs said quickly. "I really wanted to take you out for Valentine's Day...can you forgive me?"

The woman fell silent.

"Lu?" Zechs said quietly.

Lucretzia started crying.

"What's going on? Duo?"

"Who is this?" Zechs asked blankly, not recognizing Matty's voice.

"Who is _this?_" Matty retorted. "Where's...where's Warrick?"

"Who's Warrick?" Zechs asked blankly.

Duo snatched the phone from the man. "Matty..."

"Uh...War?" Matty asked uncertainly.

"That's the prince," Duo explained. "We...saved him," Duo raised his eyebrows slightly at the man, "so he was calling to check in."

"You did _not_ save me," Zechs snapped, snatching the phone back. "I got away from them a couple hours ago and...well, I got lost on my way back here."

"Give me that," Heero snapped, reaching for the phone.

Zechs danced back out of arm's reach. "I came walking up here, and if _anyone_ found me, it would be Chang Wufei. Where is Lu? Who is this? Are you Duo's boyfriend? Because if you are, he's been cheating on you with Quatre."

Duo froze entirely, his jaw dropping almost comically.

"Ooh," Wufei flinched appreciatively. "That's just fucking _cold_."

"That's _my_ boyfriend," Heero snapped, yanking the phone away from Zechs.

Zechs froze.

Duo looked to be in shock for about three seconds—and then he jumped at Zechs.

"Oh, don't!" Quatre fretted, not actually moving at them.

"You are _**so**_ lucky your condition is necessary!" Duo snarled as he made Zechs fall to the ground. "I'd kick your ass here and now!"

"That'd impress _my_ girlfriend, wouldn't it?" Zechs snarled back, rolling them and slamming Duo down to the ground. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I _was_ trying to save your _**ass**_," Duo snapped back viciously, rolling them and slamming Zechs to the ground. "Your girlfriend was damn distraught that you ran off right before Valentine's Day without saying anything to her! And your sister is working her ass off to gain independence for a colony of _dumbfucks_ so you can keep alive!"

Zechs stopped trying to push him over.

"I think they stopped," Heero muttered thoughtfully. "Are you dumbasses done?" he added.

"For now," Duo agreed through clenched teeth, pushing himself up and yanking Zechs up after him.

"Duo..." Quatre started.

Duo pointed at him wordlessly, then shoved Zechs toward Trowa. "Give me my phone," he added to Heero.

Heero stopped mid-word and passed the phone over.

"So what does that...hello?" Matty asked blankly.

"He'll call you on his," Duo noted, and hung up.

Zechs, who'd expected more of the bickering arguments and possibly more wrestling, blinked as the man stormed off down the hall. "What's up his ass?" he asked blankly.

"Not him," Trowa noted with a wicked smirk, pointing at Quatre.

Quatre's cheeks flared and he moved forward to hit Trowa hard once, then turned to follow Duo.

"So, we need to start calling," Heero noted, looking around. "And get medical," he added, moving around Zechs and gestured at a few of the men who'd been clustered a ways out the door to the building.

"And you get to tell me a story," Wufei noted happily, messing with his phone a few seconds before extending it between them. "Recording by Chang Wufei," he noted happily. "Date, March twenty-fifth. As a follow up on reconnaissance, Brigadier Generals Yuy, Maxwell, Barton, Winner and I arrived on the colony V09613 at approximately one-thirty P.M.. As of now, approximately two P.M., Brigadier Marquise has been successfully recovered, unwounded. Brigadier, why were you not on the premise at our arrival?"

Zechs stared at him blankly a long moment, then rubbed at his face. "At approximately noon today, the former first lieutenant of the 57 specials unit, Hanagar, appeared in the room that was my holding cell with a syringe of something that looked like Procilian. I have no way to confirm the liquid inside of the syringe. He made a comment about not having time that I can't quite recall at this moment, and when I refused to submit to injection, he attempted to subdue me. We had a brief fight before I downed the man and injected him with the substance. To the last of my knowledge he'd fallen asleep, though I did not check his vital signs. I stole his coat and left the holding cell. The building was in chaos and no one realized I was the prisoner. I took a hat, then proceeded to the ground floor of the building and snuck out an emergency exit. I wandered around the colony trying to find the military depot without alerting people to my presence, and managed to get reversed in my direction." He looked up tiredly as Wufei smirked at him. "I ended up back at this building and found the afore mentioned Brigadier Generals."

"End statement one," Wufei noted, and hit the button. After a moment, he looked up to Zechs with a wider smirk. "You got lost?"

"Shut-up," Zechs retorted, turning irritably away from him.

"Brigadier?" a soldier muttered hesitantly, moving toward him. "We're required to give you a medical exam."

"I'm not going anywhere with anyone but the Brigadiers _unless_ Brigadier Winner tells me you're safe," Zechs snapped at him.

The man's eyes widened almost fearfully.

"Quatre picked everyone who's here," Wufei muttered, tucking his phone in the pocket. "Though if Duo really did...he may not be thinking clearly."

"Don't be absurd," Trowa muttered, gesturing irritably as he moved into earshot. He passed the phone to Zechs. "It's Une."

"Please, Brigadier," the soldier muttered uncertainly, looking around.

"Come on," Trowa ordered, then gestured at Wufei. Zechs moved with the pair of them out toward the waiting van.

"Wouldn't it suck if that van ran off," Heero started to comment, then looked around and realized there was no one with him.

He blinked.

"Heero?" Relena demanded, sounding breathless. "Heero?"

"Hi, Relena," Heero muttered, smiling very slightly. "You should probably sit down."

"What?" she gasped, sounding like she was about to start crying. "Une said you were...oh my god...Heero...is he dead?"

Actually, she _was_ crying.

"He's getting a medical exam," Heero reassured her quickly. "We...got him...a short while ago."

Relena started to cry in earnest, wrenching sobs.

Heero wasn't sure what...he was supposed to say to that.

"He's okay?" she gasped a few minutes later, recovering herself. "Please?"

"He looked perfectly healthy," Heero reassured her. "He's in the med van getting an exam now."

"Oh my god, thank you!" Relena started sobbing again, but this time not the same wrenching sound. "Thank you so much! I've been so scared! I knew I could count on you! I knew...oh...you're not hurt? None of you are hurt? Does Lu know? I'm coming! I'm coming up!"

He could hear people trying to talk to her in the background on her end, but she wasn't acknowledging anyone.

"We're going to take him back to A02225," he noted quickly. "What are you doing?"

"I was about to go into another conference," Relena noted, then started laughing. "Oh! They'll hate me! Just a minute!"

Heero frowned, moving from the building toward one of the vans as the talking on her end gained in noise. "Turn the tv on, see if you can find Minister Darlian."

The soldier who'd been sitting around waiting for orders instantly turned to the array of televisions. He fiddled with things a moment before a screen came up, and he selected something from the list.

Relena had her phone very obviously in hand, and her people were scurrying after her trying to clean up her face as she marched to stand in front of the podium. "Ladies and gentlemen," Relena noted in a strong voice, a wicked sort of smile lighting her eyes. "As you know," she went on happily, "I asked you to gather today to hear a petition for the independence of the L-5 colony A02227. However, in light of recent circumstances, I no longer feel I am the right person to beg for this haphazard acknowledgement." She looked around as an uncertain mutter rushed the crowd. "I hereby rescind my request and petition on this matter. I apologize for usurping your time and energies for such a pointless excursion. Please, excuse me, and good-day all."

The crowd murmured again.

"Oooh," the man at the control muttered, grinning wickedly. "That was a slap in the face."

Heero smirked, pressing the phone back to his ear as the woman marched from the stage, raising her own phone again.

"Heero?" she asked curiously.

"I'm here," he returned.

"I'm coming," she noted as the camera showed her wiping at her eyes again. "I'll be there, to 25 as soon as I can manage it."

The news crew switched to their confused reporter as she looked to the camera and gathered herself.

"That's all," Heero muttered to the soldier turning away. "We'll be waiting for you," Heero noted to the female with a grin. "Though, you may beef up your security. Rabid's never been great shakes at controlling the pettiness in his nature. I wouldn't be shocked if there was an assassination attempt."

"Oh, _that's_ pleasant," Relena noted darkly.

"Yeah, I need to work on my pillow talk," Heero agreed, moving to the medical van to look in and see that Zechs was zipping up his pants.

"Aw, I missed the show?" he asked, not thinking about it.

Wufei started laughing wickedly as Trowa gave him a dirty look.

Zechs' expression was confused.

"What?" Relena asked blankly.

"Sorry," Heero muttered quickly, shaking his head. "I meant to ask if _you_ missed the show," he directed that to the prince.

Wufei laughed even more, though it was silent.

"What show?" Zechs asked blankly, obviously trying to catch up.

"Your sister just rescinded her...what was it?" he asked into the phone. "Her request for haphazard acknowledgment?"

Relena started laughing.

"That doesn't work," he noted thoughtfully to his friends. "You'll have to watch her...press conference."

Zechs started snickering wickedly, reaching forward and grabbing the phone. "Relena?"

- -

E/N: Okay, I should note that I make html files to post my stories on here, and the proper charachter for the word "naive" gets lost. There may be others, too. Just so you know that words like that aren't...writer...error...entirely *grins* and yeah. Next chapter is the epilogue of this story. I have a 3rd story in mind, but I'm not sure about all of it yet so it might take a bit. Just keep your eyes open for it. Have a good one, and I hoped you enjoyed the...attempted...bystanding *grins*


	13. 12

**Twelve**

"What sort of private place did you have in mind?" Zechs muttered brightly to Duo, Lucretzia still under his arm. She'd been there since they'd returned to L-5, and for a long time, he'd had Relena under his other arm.

"What?" Lucretzia asked dangerously. They'd entered the apartments the Gundam pilots were sharing, and she hadn't heard anything about this evident plan her boyfriend and friend seemed to have.

"The sort of private place where no one will interrupt," Duo returned. "That interruption bit includes our leaving."

"So I shouldn't talk about it with the girl around."

Duo nodded, meeting his eyes somewhat pointedly.

"What about your blond?" he asked, pointing at Quatre.

"I'm not _his_," Quatre retorted, then ran a hand through his hair and nudged Duo with his knee. "Should I dye it?"

Duo looked to him again, then looked back around to Zechs. "He would interrupt," Duo noted. "We can't even banter without interruption around here."

"You better not fight," Lu snapped, looking between the men and moving from under Zechs' arm.

"She told me about her Valentine's Day," Zechs noted pointedly to Duo, his eyes slightly hard, even with his bantering tone.

"I wanted it to be something she'd remember," Duo agreed, his tone also light.

They both knew, though, that if they didn't have the constraints they'd start ripping great stripes of hide verbally from each other. It would also end in a nice little fight where they'd both hurt like hell and be okay again for another few years. They might need a few stitches, or a skin graft if they were too far away from the others—which would never happen—but they wouldn't kill each other.

Zechs smiled forcefully at Duo, then looked to Quatre. "Why do you _care_ what he thinks?"

"Because his opinion matters," Quatre snapped back, glaring up at him.

Zechs snorted, then pulled away—to kiss Lu deeply.

Duo looked away...and Quatre glared at him.

"Wow," Jinli muttered, moving from the kitchen area—it made Zechs jump. "I had _no_ idea you were petty," the man added, pointing vaguely toward Duo.

Zechs stared at him.

"I thought you'd all be like, macho buddies," he added, looking down to Duo. "Then he goes and does that shit—why haven't you just taken her from him?"

Duo smirked at that, looking away from the pair. "She loves him. If he makes her happy..." he shrugged.

Lucretzia sighed.

"Do you have _any_ idea how big an _asshole_ you are?" Quatre demanded of Duo in something like disbelief.

"If you want me," Duo said very clearly, "then you have to tell me and we get to have that talk I keep bringing up. You know, the one you avoid? I can't put you on the same level as a blow-up doll, Quatre. You're my friend, so I'm not going to lust after you."

"And what about me?" Lu demanded almost sourly.

"You're my friend and I _don't_ lust after you," he retorted, giving her a look, then glared at Zechs again.

"I have to go talk to Une again," Zechs muttered with a sigh, pulling away. "You're staying here, aren't you?" he asked the woman.

"Yeah, me and Matty are going to lunch."

Zechs made a face and glared at Duo, then turned and walked off.

"Can you not say stuff like that to him?" Lu appealed to Jinli.

"I probably shouldn't," the man returned, taking a drink from his cup casually. "The thing about it is that I like Duo—and him being a bastard like that upsets Duo. I'm a simple man. I look after the interests of my friends to the best of my abilities."

"And you said you're straight?" Duo asked sweetly.

Jinli laughed and kicked at his leg, moving to drop in a chair.

Lu gave him a look, then moved to sit in another and looked back to Quatre.

"Oh, let me sulk," Quatre retorted, looking away from her. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"I'm not going to make anymore concessions until you do," Duo retorted with a shrug, moving to sit properly. "I'd bend over backwards for you if you need me to...and that really didn't need said," he added to Jinli, shaking his head.

Jinli sniggered and smacked a hand to his face.

"What crap are you talking now?" Trowa demanded, moving from down the hall.

"I have this horrible taste in jokes," Duo explained. "I say a few things too often to have them innocent, and telling Quatre I'd bend over backwards for him put a nifty image in my mind that I'm pretty damn sure he's not going to want the details on."

Quatre was red again, his face covered by his hands.

"You are _such_ a dick," Lu noted, grinning pleasantly at him.

"Holy shit, you're not stuck to Princey's side?" Trowa asked her, moving to look at her closer. "When'd they do the surgery?"

"This morning," she returned, making a slight face at him. "But let's not say more things that can go without comment."

He flashed her a grin.

"What is Fei doing?" Jinli muttered, rising to his feet again. He kicked casually at Duo as he passed him...and disappeared into the hall.

"I really wish he'd stop doing that," Quatre muttered sidelong to Lu.

"Yeah, Duo's fickle enough without someone stealing his attention," she agreed.

Duo guffawed.

Quatre flashed the woman an almost commiserating grin, then hopped to his feet and headed to the kitchen. "Anyone want anything while I'm up? And Duo, don't say it."

"Don't say what?" Duo asked, grinning wolfishly at him.

Quatre gave him a very pointed look as he moved away.

"I didn't say anything," Duo noted to Lu. "You saw me not saying anything."

"But it was so plainly written on your face I didn't even have to try to understand it," she retorted, then gestured at Quatre. "Oh look, he's alone in the kitchen and me and Tro are about to head back up the hall."

Duo laughed wickedly, hopping to his feet.

"Come on," the woman added, her eyes shining as she considered the European male. "They want a moment alone."

"Lucretzia!" Quatre half-gasped in protest.

The woman started laughing delightedly, and bounced down the hall to figure out what was _taking_ Matty so long.

...and for some reason, she really _appreciated_ that Trowa followed her—even with Quatre squeaking protests behind them.

- -

"You can stop thanking me," Heero persisted to Relena, smiling at her. "I promise you can."

"Oh, but I mean it," she protested, moving to hug him. It got her a dark look from Matty, but she ignored him completely.

"Hey," Heero added, extending his hand to Matty. He didn't understand why, but whenever Relena was around, Matty stood back and glared a lot. Heero almost didn't expect the gesture to work—but then Matty was straddling his lap and kissing him heatedly. He sniggered, pulling back slightly. "We're not alone."

"I can share," Matty whispered back in Japanese.

Heero started laughing wickedly, glancing very briefly at Relena. "I thought you didn't like girls."

"So does everyone, I haven't tried yet though."

"There seem to be a few things you won't try," Heero pouted at him. "I don't think your first thing should be _her_."

"Well, I'm going to go," Relena noted in English with a sigh, rising to her feet again and looking around. "You two obviously want your privacy."

"Sorry," Heero apologized instantly, looking up to her. "We haven't seen each other today. Lu stole him this morning."

She nodded to him, then bowed her head slightly to Matty. He'd obviously won the round, and she wanted to get away.

Matty grinned, turning back to start kissing Heero again.

"Please?" Heero asked quietly.

"I told you before," Matty protested, frowning at him. "I'm not very good at it."

"And you're not going to get better without practice," Heero flashed him a wicked grin. "Come on, just once..."

"Just once now," Matty retorted, allowing himself to be swung onto the bed. "You're as bad as Duo."

"And what do you know about Duo?" Heero asked skeptically.

"I know that he told Quatre that it'd be six months to a year before he tried for anything serious," Matty retorted. "Quatre was telling me—just buttering him up for more fun later."

Heero smirked wickedly, unbuttoning the guy's jeans. "And you have a problem with that?"

"Not really," Matty muttered, thinking briefly. "It's more...I didn't expect that sort of thing from Duo. I could see _you_ doing it, but..."

Heero laughed, biting lightly at his abs. "You seem to neglect the bit where Duo was my first and taught me all _sorts_ of interesting things."

"Ah, yes," Matty noted, rolling his eyes. "I neglect that...let's neglect this awful conversation, why don't we?"

Heero chuckled wickedly, pushing the guy's shirt up. "Oh, do lets."

- -

"You're seriously just going back to earth?" Une demanded of Wufei in righteous indignation. "You're just going to pick up and leave me with this _mess?_" she gestured at 27, or at least, in the direction of 27.

"Well, I'm not, exactly," Wufei refuted easily. "I'm actually staying on the colony for another week—but the rest _are_ going home."

"How can you do this to me?" Une demanded in disbelief. "We've got a colony willing to put out guerilla warriors..."

"Um," Wufei cut that off, "I'm not doing it to you...and the colonies _like_ guerrilla warriors—or did you put up a mental block about 195?"

She gave him a level look.

"So I'm taking off," he added. "I resign my post and all that fun stuff—feel free to take your time processing it, because you'll probably drag us back up here before you get anything done with them," he gestured at 27. "So have a good day," he moved forward and kissed her cheek. "And I'm going with Jin to visit a few friends and probably start mourning," he made a face. "I was avoiding it for a reason damn it...take care, Une."

She watched as he turned and started away, her hands on her hips. She knew she could bicker and argue with the five jackasses until her tongue turned blue and they would still disappear on her. If she took legal steps to bring them in, they'd just disappear from radar.

Wufei grinned slightly as he made the hall, but he didn't pick up his speed as he normally would. There was something in the woman's reaction and stance that suggested to him that she wasn't going to be chasing after him.

...or he was wrong.

He turned to look at her as she stopped in the door.

"Wufei?" she asked, then spotted him. "Take care of yourself, all right? And I probably will need you—so don't get lost on me."

Wufei nodded respectfully at that, then watched as she disappeared back into the room.

Interesting.

Wufei started off down the hall again, running his hands through his hair.

He had no doubt that he and his brethren would have to step in to take down the rebellion of 27. Rabid Marsh had survived multiple fights again the various pilots because of tunnel vision and determination. They'd probably only scratched the surface here.

Wufei pushed into the apartment, seeing Duo and Quatre close together near a window, then met eyes with Trowa.

"How'd she take it?" Trowa asked curiously.

"Well enough," Wufei shrugged, heading toward the hall. "I need to get my stuff organized."

Trowa nodded.

Wufei pounded once on Heero's door—he could hear the bed and Matty gasping. "Five minutes, asshole," he said loudly. "I'm leaving in five."

"Hold on," Heero retorted, sounding a little breathless.

Wufei grinned slightly, moving down to his room.

Whatever ended up happening—it was going to be interesting. There was no way in hell that anything with _this_ lot could be anything else.

He closed the door and looked around before moving to his duffel bag.

Jinli would be showing up at some point in the next ten minutes.

He had to get ready to go.

**End**

- -

E/N: And that is that. Join us again for the third story of Chance or Circumstance with Ranger on earth...and whatever else I manage to come up with. I haven't started writing it yet, though, so don't hold your breath or I'm not responsible when you pass out. haha!


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